


Crush

by MoodyAquarius



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Crushes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Burn, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 16:41:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19949476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoodyAquarius/pseuds/MoodyAquarius
Summary: "I might have a tiny, itty bitty crush on Hades"Based on the amazing world Rachel Smythe has given us with Lore Olympus!! Enjoy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all who have supported Bruises, here is a new rendition of the same story. I'm trying to write it how I think it'll actually go down. 
> 
> I love your comments. They keep me going!
> 
> Made a slight edit

“Persephone, stop looking at Minthe’s Fatesbook account!” Eros grabbed his phone away from the glowing magenta goddess, tsk-ing at her, “Looking at all that won’t do you any good.” 

“He’s right, you just need to forget about him.”

“No, that is not what I’m saying, Artemis!” She rolled her eyes at him and groaned then stomped off toward her room. “Drama queen.” Eros chuckled, then turned to look down at Persephone, who was frowning down at her little hands, blue petals falling from her head. “Oh, honey…” he sighed, feeling the pain of her crush. 

“They just don’t seem like a good match… Hades is so warm and kind and Minthe… well..” she scowled down at her feet. Eros’ lips curled up in a devious smile. 

“He’s warm?” Persephone caught his suggestive glance and immediately blushed, scrambling to explain herself, 

“I- I just mean his personality… he’s so generous and nice… and..” her chest felt heavy.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” Eros took her little hand, meeting her longing gaze.

“I.. I can’t.. He’s with  _ her _ ..” 

“Oh so what? They’re such a mess, I doubt he would reject you if you just told him how you feel.”

“I can’t, Eros.” 

“So what are you gonna do? Just sit around and wait for them to break up? That’s so boring!” 

Persephone sighed and put her head in her hands, not knowing what else to do. Eros patted her shoulder and sipped his cosmo. "Don't worry sweetie, I'll figure something out." 

“Hades you really need to reign in your girlfriend she’s been acting like a bitchy teenager.” Hecate tossed a glance over at him as he silently puffed on his cigar, sitting at his desk with a frown on his face. She continued stirring her tea, studying him with narrowed eyes, trying to assess his mood. 

She brought her tea to her lips, taking a sip to taste, satisfied with the flavor she set the spoon aside and sauntered over to his desk, sneaking up behind him and placing a clawed hand on his shoulder, snapping her glowing eyes down at him, “What’s up with you?”

He sighed, smoke escaping his nostrils and slithering up toward the ceiling as he scrubbed a hand across his forehead in what looked like deep frustration. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”

Hecate waited for him to continue but as no words followed and he just puffed on his cigar she urged, “Elaborate.” 

He sighed again and leaned back in his chair. “I thought trying to have a proper committed relationship with Minthe would solve everything. I figured once we made it official all our problems would somehow resolve…” He took a long drag off his cigar, exhaling a cloud of smoke, “It was stupid of me to think that.” 

Hecate frowned, “Hades, it’s not stupid of you to want a healthy relationship..” This nymph was just wrong for him, plain and simple. She’s too immature for him, too snake-like. She tried to sound impartial as she suggested, “Why don’t you just call it quits? Cut your losses?” She strolled slowly to stand in front of him, locking eyes with him as she said, “Then you can pursue this thing with Persephone..”

His eyebrows jumped, face changing color as he choked on the smoke in his lungs, looking embarrassed and guilty, “W-what  _ thing?  _ We don’t have a th-thing…” 

“Hades… how long have we been friends?” She raised her eyebrows at him, watching as he tried to calculate the centuries. “Hades, I know you, I know how you feel about her.”

“I…” he didn’t know where he was going with that, turning into a blushing, trembling mess. 

“I’ve never seen anyone have this impact on you… it’s definitely worth pursuing, Hades.” She smiled at his trembling figure, chuckling, “I’ll stop torturing you now. Just think on it.” And with that she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

“ _ Fuck…”  _ he exhaled, spinning around in his chair then putting his cigar out in an ashtray, folding his arms and putting himself face down on the desk, giving himself a time-out.  _ You’ve got to stop entertaining this idea. Self control. You can control yourself.  _

As he gave himself this little pep-talk his brain played a slideshow of images, memories burned into his mind of the last time he saw Persephone. That crushed look on her face as Minthe pawed at him. How she turned then started running at super speed, bursting through a window, pausing to look back, glistening brighter than all the stars in the sky surrounding her before bolting away, off into the night. Powerful. Surreal. Gorgeous. 

_ I said quit it!  _

A familiar scratchy little sound came from his desk phone before Minthe’s low voice spoke through his speaker, “Hades, you have a call on line one.” He groaned and reached to press a button to respond to her, speaking in a tone he hoped would convey his irritation, 

“Well, who is it?”

“They didn’t say.” she said in a rather bitchy tone.

“You do realize it’s your job to ask.” He spat.

Her tone came back equally as bitter, “A thousand apologies,  _ your majesty.”  _

“Thanks.” he said rather sarcastically, then picked up the phone to take the call. “This is Hades, who am I speaking with?”

"So formal." 

He didn't recognize the voice, "I'm sorry.. who is this?"

“Oh it hasn’t been that long since we spoke, has it?”

It took him a moment but he finally put the voice to a face, “Eros? How… why are you calling me?”

“We have some things to discuss.” 

"We do? What business do you have with me?" This call only got more confusing. 

"I know mom and I have kind of neglected you in the love department… so, I intend to make things right because we both know my mother is far too proud to admit when she's wrong." 

Hades clicked his fingernails against the desk top, "I'm sorry, where are you going with this?" 

"Look, just take Persephone out on a date." He felt his face grow hot, looking around the room and feeling the collar of his shirt become too tight. 

"This-this is what you called about?"

"She likes you, and I know you like her too so just take her out." 

"I-I I'm dating M-" 

"Oh stop, you can lie to yourself all day long but you can't lie to me!" Eros cut him off, "You know Minthe doesn't love you." 

"How could you say that?" He knew he was right but it still stung to hear out loud.

"Look I'm just trying to help you out, if you want to stay in a dead-end relationship be my guest." With that the line died. Hades pulled the phone from his head, staring down at it in disbelief. 

A chime sounded, alerting all inside that it was eleven am, the professor spoke over the sounds of the class standing and shuffling their things, “And remember, class, if you don’t get a jump on that group project now you can’t come whining to me later for more time.”

“Persephone, have you picked a group yet?” 

“Persephone, work with me!”

“No me!” 

She couldn’t distinguish who was saying what but all three boys sitting around her were clamoring for her attention. She giggled softly, grabbing her notebook and stuffing it into her backpack, “I.. I actually do have a group, I’m sorry..” she smiled apologetically at them. 

Disappointment coated all their faces, “Oh..” one sighed, they began gathering their things and walking away to their next class. Persephone smiled softly to herself, then felt her smile falter, wishing for attention only from one person… 

She pulled her backpack up over her shoulder and started walking out toward the courtyard, finding a little table to do homework on before her next class. She set her backpack down and pulled out one of her books and a notebook, flipping to the chapter they had worked on today, trying to stay ahead of all the work being thrown at her. With school and her job in the Underworld things could get overwhelming if she didn’t stay a couple steps ahead of everything. 

She flipped through the pages in her notebook until she found the prompt the professor had given them to write on. Just as she started reading it her phone buzzed on the table. It was a text from Hades. She felt her heart soar. She opened the text, it read simply: 

"How are you?" She pressed buttons, typing back, 

“Fine, how are you?” she hit send. She set her phone aside and tried to focus on her work but before she could even finish reading the prompt her phone buzzed again. 

“I’m having a weird day. What are you up to?” 

“Trying to do some homework before my next class.” Why didn’t he text his girlfriend about his weird day? Why is he telling her? 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll leave you to it.” 

She hoped her text didn’t sound rude. “It’s alright, it’s pretty boring anyway.” 

“What’s the subject?” She began typing back, 

“Philosophy. The professor has asked us to explain philosophy in our own words.”

“Sounds tedious.” he texted back. 

“Why was your day weird?” it took him a bit longer to respond this time, but his message came through a few minutes later: 

“It’s too much to go into, you’ll be at work tomorrow, right?” 

“Yes, I will.” 

“Splendid, I’ll see you then. I should let you get to your homework now.” 

She felt her heart sink, texting back, “Okay, bye Hades.”

“Goodbye, Kore.” 

When Hades got home from work that night he had a craving for sushi, sending a text to Minthe after he pulled into the garage. “Sushi?” He stuffed his phone back into his pocket and opened his car door, rising from it and shutting it softly behind himself, clicking the lock on and walking up into his home through the connecting garage door. 

He shrugged his coat off and hung it on the rack, pulling his phone from his pocket, expecting a response. Minthe was always on her phone. He opened the message to see it had been read. He felt his blood boil, clenching his jaw in frustration, texting aggressively, “You could at least say no thank you.” 

“When did you get so clingy?” was all she texted back, followed by, “I made plans with Thetis tonight, sorry.” 

“Oh, that might have been nice to know.” he frowned at his phone and set it down on the kitchen counter a little too hard. He reached into the cabinet to grab himself a little glass, filling it with ice cubes then setting it down on the counter to pour some aged whiskey into it. He pulled his phone up to see that Minthe had texted him, 

“I liked you better as a fuck buddy.” 

Something in his chest shattered and fell, it felt like lemon juice in a wound. He felt a lump form in his throat. He gulped it back, opening his keyboard to text back but he couldn’t come up with anything to say. He decided to just turn his phone off, taking a needy gulp of his whiskey and holding down the power button on his cell. No good would come from continuing to text her. He finished his drink then began stripping, walking toward the pool, pushing his pain away in the only way he knew how. 

After an immeasurable amount of time spent in the pool he returned to the kitchen to take a pull off the bottle of whiskey, glad no one was around to see him do it. But then again, who was ever around, besides his dogs? He once read a post Minthe had tagged him in on that stupid website Fatesbook that said something along the lines of “Dogs are for people who are lonely” she always grilled him about his multiple dogs, saying it was just gross and excessive. She didn’t like most things he did. They were really quite different and the more he got to know her the less he felt right being with her, but being with her spared him from ever knowing if Persephone would reject him or not. 

_ When did you become a coward?  _

He took another long drink of whiskey then set it aside, wandering up into his bedroom, dragging his feet. Another night alone with his nightmares. Alone. Always alone. Solitude used to be nice a couple hundred years ago… he never thought he’d long for something… someone so badly. Until he met Persephone he’d never actually pictured himself having a… dare he say normal life?

A wife, a queen… someone to share all this empty space with. 

He wasn’t sure when but as he lay on his bed contemplating these things, he fell asleep somewhere in between thoughts. 

Red.

Crimson everywhere. 

Blood.

Screams that turned out to be coming from his own throat. A sand-paper, bloody raw ache in his throat from screaming. 

A rumble. 

A deep booming voice.

“Quit squirming around.” 

His limbs burning, acid everywhere. 

Screaming until he coughed blood.

“Guh--” he woke with a start, jolting up out of the bed, eyes filled with red, reaching around himself, gasping at the feeling of his cold sheets, solidifying he wasn’t in his father’s stomach anymore. He tried to regain his breath, gripping the sheets hard, “Not real… not real…” 

He looked over at his night table, the clock read: 3:45 am. He continued breathing heavy, fighting to calm himself down. His father’s voice boomed so loudly it felt like he was still inside him,  _ She won’t love you, you’re too much like me. _

He shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts away. He sat up in bed, feeling a dull throb in his temples and neck. He remembered he’d turned his phone off and left it downstairs. Then he remembered why and felt the hurt all over again. The only thing that tugged at his mind was the thought that if his phone was off Persephone might not be able to reach him. 

_ Stop thinking of her all the time. Get a hold of yourself.  _

He closed his eyes again and this time all he could see was pink. Long, silky pink hair blowing in the breeze, hovering effortlessly just as she did. He remembered how she floated beside him, their hands connected as she laughed so carefree, flying in the air above him.  _ It’s going to be hard going forward knowing all this.  _

Her glowing cheeks, her large, sparkly eyes and thick lashes. Even thicker lips… 

_ Stop! Stop now. _

He sat up in bed and forced himself to stand and walk downstairs to retrieve his phone. He really wished he could just keep it off a little longer. As he reached for it he held down on the power button, feeling a rumble in his stomach as his eyes fell on the fridge. 

He set his phone down to power on, walking toward the fridge and pulling out a case of strawberries. He opened it and sat down on the bar stool to eat, squinting at the bright light his cell phone emitted. As his phone powered on he received a few texts. He opened it to see that three were from Minthe while one was from Persephone. He opened hers first, it read:

“Hope your night got better, my philosophy homework isn’t going so well.” He smiled softly to himself, cherishing every bit of communication he received from her. 

He braced himself to open the texts from Minthe, the first read: “I’m fucked up, can you pick me up?” the next: “I got a ride, thanks for asking.” the last: “I’m sorry big blue, I didn’t mean what I said. Can we talk?” 

Besides the text from Persephone he really wished he hadn’t opened his phone. It’s a pattern with Minthe. He asks something of her, she blows him off, she says something mean, then grovels and begs forgiveness. It’s a cycle. A cycle he is sick of. He decides to hold off on texting her back, planning to tell her off and possibly break it off tomorrow. 

_ You know MInthe doesn’t love you. _

He heard Eros’ voice ring in his ears. Then he thought of what he’d said about Persephone.

_ She likes you. _

_ She likes you. _

It played on repeat in his mind, making him feel dizzy. Surely Eros had spoken to her… and she told him that she likes him…  _ She likes me…  _ He let himself get wrapped up in the warmth of that thought, wishing it would stay forever. Everything felt easier around her. He wasn’t so afraid when she was near. 

He ate a few more strawberries then put them away, walking back up to his room and lying in bed though he knew he wouldn’t sleep. He closed his eyes and let the flashes of pink flow through his mind freely. 

The line at the coffee shop was far too long, Persephone wondered why anyone was willing to wait so long. She walked through the lobby toward an elevator, pressing the large button going up and stepping back politely, clutching her skirt in a nervous habit. She had her hair pulled up in twin buns on top of her head. She wore a full length white coat Eros had picked out and bought for her, begging her to wear it to work, “You don’t have to go naked, just wear it! It’s so cute!”

Underneath her coat she wore a navy blue halter top and long black, sheer skirt. Completing the outfit were a pair of quarter-inch black pumps. She felt confident, stepping forward as the elevator doors opened and revealed emptiness inside. She pressed the button for the top floor, hoping to stroll by while Hades got his morning coffee in the break room near his office. She felt her cheeks burn, knowing she had no business flirting with her boss like this. The elevator opened, she stepped out and began walking down the hall, trying to look like she belonged here. 

She walked through the long hall, looking up at the strange modern art hung on the walls. She turned a corner and stopped as she found herself face to face with Minthe, who had nearly bumped into her with a pile of files and papers clung to her chest, chatting in her bluetooth headset. She fell silent and her expression turned dark, she reached up to press a button on her headset then snarled, 

“What are _ you _ doing here?” Persephone felt that weighted feeling return to her chest as she looked up at the tall, skinny and beautiful nymph who glared daggers down at her. She felt the air wheeze out of her lungs. She hadn’t anticipated a confrontation. 

Before she could respond a large figure, Hades, turned the corner and looked down at the two of them with shock apparent on his face. His eyes doubled in size and his mouth fell open ever so slightly. Persephone’s eyes locked on his, blue flowers sprouted from her head, Minthe snarled and instinctively turned to look. He began approaching quickly. All the aggression fell from her, quickly replaced by a satisfied, sultry grin as she cooed and walked toward him “Oh hey there,” She gripped his tie, other hand tousling his hair and grinning maliciously at Persephone, “You look so sexy today.” 

Persephone felt a sharp pain in her heart. Hades saw her clutch her coat and huff in defeat. He pushed Minthe off himself, grabbing her by the wrist and hissing, “Knock it off, Minthe.” 

Minthe was surprised by his reaction, spitting, “Oh what, are you really still mad about that text?!” He released her and clenched his jaw in what looked like pure rage. 

“Not at work, Minthe. We will discuss this later.” He stepped swiftly away from her to join the glowing magenta goddess at her side, setting a gentle hand on her shoulder and looking down at her, asking softly, “Persephone, did you want to talk to me?”

Persephone looked up at him with wide, amazed eyes, then looked over to Minthe, who was steaming, glaring at the hand Hades had laid on her shoulder. She couldn’t describe the feeling that burned in her stomach as she saw that. She felt a small smile grow on her lips, looking up at Hades, who hadn’t looked away from her. 

“Y-yes, if you have time..” 

“I do, come with me.” He moved his hand from her shoulder. He began walking so she had to start walking to keep pace with him as they walked toward his office. She tossed a glance back at Minthe, who looked ready to explode. She turned her head forward and felt pride burning inside her and a smile tugging at her lips.

Her stomach filled with butterflies as they walked, she looked up and caught him smiling down at her. They each looked away, blushing. They reached his office quickly. He opened the door for her, waiting for her to walk in. She stepped forward, walking into his massive office, looking around the decorated walls. She giggled and ran toward his desk, deciding to sit there, laughing at how tiny she was in his massive chair. "I feel like a little kid!" She laughed, reaching forward at the desk and pretending to write something. 

He stepped forward, shutting the door behind himself and smiling at her. He felt so… carefree around her, like he could just melt into the floor at any second. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so comfortable. 

He stepped toward her, walking slowly toward the back of the chair and setting his hands on the top of it, grinning down at her, "Trying to steal my job?" 

"Oh no, I could never do your job." she shook her head, smiling up at him. He took a moment, processing what she was wearing, along with her cute twin bun hairstyle, taking note of the blue petals in her hair... She always looks flawless no matter what she wears or how she styles her hair. He gulped, feeling himself getting side-tracked.

"That's debatable." He pulled the chair back from the desk, smiling wickedly as she gasped from the sudden movement. 

She tried to swat at him, "Hey! That wasn't very nice!" 

"Who ever said I'm nice?" He spun her once more until they were face to face. Their smiles grew as they watched one another. 

"I think you're nice.." she cocked her head at him, innocent as a puppy, smiling radiantly. 

"And why is that, little goddess?" 

"Well…” she knotted her little hands together, “Besides Artemis, you are one of the only people who actually treat me like an adult." She looked down and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "And even with her sometimes I wonder if she isn’t just babysitting me for my mother.." she sighed. 

He hated the sad look on her face. 

She looked down at her hands, then up at him, "I don't feel like some silly unimportant little girl when I'm with you." 

"You have never and will never be unimportant, Kore." His eyebrows set hard over his eyes. She dabbed at her damp eyes, trying to hide the moisture. She changed the subject,

"So, are you and Minthe okay?" 

He sighed and looked down, then back up at her, 

"No, not really.." 


	2. Chapter 2

“What happened?” Persephone’s large eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him with her eyebrows pulled up in concern, her full attention on him. It made him feel warm having her eyes on him, he blushed. He swallowed hard, unsure where to start. Everything about he and Minthe's relationship was rough and wrong. The way it started, where it is now… the things they’ve done and said to each other.. It’s been on and off and painful. He felt used by Minthe. Especially with her last text.. It really made him feel like a sex object in her eyes.

Not worth a real relationship.. 

Persephone’s expression was soft and patient, watching him attentively. He sighed and moved over to the couch, gesturing for her to follow. She rose from his chair and moved to sit beside him on the couch, kicking her shoes off and curling her legs up under herself as she settled into the cushion.

“Sorry, I hope you don’t mind... these shoes are so uncomfortable.” she smiled apologetically.

He had to remind himself how to breathe, “N-no problem..” He grinned, watching her make herself comfortable. She blushed and smiled up at him. “So?”

She looked up at him, eyes falling over his broad chest, noticing a little pink pocket square popping up around the dark fabric of his suit. It made her stomach knot up. 

He sighed again, “So, our relationship has never been great… we each have our issues…” he scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck, looking down at her, sensing no judgement, only understanding as he said, “Last night she.. she told me she liked me better… back… when we were just hooking up… heh” he feigned a laugh, looking incredibly hurt.

“I'm sorry, but… Hooking up?” She felt silly for needing the clarification, hating her lack of social skills.

He cleared his throat, “Friends with benefits..”

Her eyebrows rose in confusion, not wanting to point out her ignorance. He saw right through her anyway and smiled, 

“Having casual sex...” 

“Oh,” she blushed, feeling so stupid. “I’m sorry, I.. I’m so dumb..”

His eyebrows lowered over his eyes, setting in a hard line, “You are not.” 

“So.. she said that… ohh.” The glowing magenta goddess hovered toward him as understanding colored her face. “That’s so mean… I don’t understand..” She frowned, eyebrows rising higher, “I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged, eyes still locked with hers, wanting to say so much more. He looked down, feeling his heart speed up as her little arms wrapped around his bicep. She looked up at him, absolutely angelic. He was afraid to move, scared he might frighten her away. He felt his heart jump and bounce around inside his chest, eyes locked on the top of her head, reminding himself not to panic. 

“I don’t understand why she wouldn’t want to be with you..” she bit her lip, smiling up at him. He smiled back at her, feeling his stomach fill with butterflies, staying still as possible. 

“Oh?” he grinned down his nose at her. She tightened her hold on him, gazing up at him. They each said nothing, just staring at each other and smiling. An electric feeling in the air hung between them, jolting through their connected limbs. He felt her energy running into his, she felt warm, light, like sunshine. His energy melded with hers, he was equally warm but in a much different way, like heat coming off of lava. 

He groaned, wishing they could stay like this but with the way his heart was pounding he wouldn’t be able to sit here much longer without her noticing. Plus, he did indeed have work to do and so did she. The longer they stayed alone here the more people might notice. He cleared his throat, putting a hand over hers and gazing down at her, “S-Sweetness..”

She pulled back, uncurling her arms from around his massive bicep, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. “Sorry..” she blushed, looking away and scooting away from him. “I… I didn’t mean to be too f-friendly..” 

"Oh, no, you're perfectly fine.." He hurried to clarify, “I didn’t mind… I mean.. I don’t mind.” he flashed her a nervous grin. “I just have to get to work at some point.. Before someone notices..” 

“Of course.” she stood from the couch, tugging at her skirt, biting her lip around her grin. "I should get to work as well.." 

He couldn't take his eyes off her, amazed at how easy it was to talk to her. 

"Are you going to be alright?" She took a step toward him, watching him with attentive eyes. He felt his stomach drop, a horrid nervousness taking over him.

"Y-Yeah I'll be fine.." she didn't look convinced, stepping toward him and saying softly,

"Are you going to talk to her? Tell her how that made you feel?" He watched blue petals and butterflies rise from her skin. 

Hades had never had anyone take such an interest in his emotional state. He didn't know how to react. He realized he hadn't answered her, shaking his head to clear it. 

"I.." he trailed off, not sure it would help anything. Persephone looked up at him with her soft eyes, saying, 

"I think you should." She looked down at her feet, "It seems like you're really upset by it.. she should know." 

He felt his chest ache, wishing he could just drop this facade that he called his life, drop everything and pull her into his arms. He gulped hard, forcing himself to smile down at her, 

"Thanks.." he cleared his throat, "W-would you like me to escort you on your way out?" 

A flirtatious grin turned the corners of her mouth upward as she looked up at him with that wild light in her eyes. "As much as I'd love that.. I'm not sure we need the rumors…" 

Suddenly he felt silly for suggesting it, blinking out of a stupor that had him believing, even for a second, that Persephone might be his.. that she might want to be his… He had pushed Minthe so far from his mind that the thought of walking her to the elevator, getting in, alone together… touching her.. flooded his brain... 

_ You've gotta stop. You've gotta stop. _

The little goddess reached down at her shoes, sitting on the couch for a moment to pull them on. As soon as she got them on she stood then offered her hand to him in a hand shake, giggling at him, “Good talk.”

He reached out to take her hand, smiling almost drunkenly, “Indeed..” Their hands, despite being so different in size happened to fit perfectly together. Their eyes met, each feeling the heat of the other’s hand as their energy mixed. He couldn’t stop the words from bursting out of him as he said, 

“I’ve never felt an energy like yours. Of all the gods and goddesses I’ve known throughout time… yours is totally unique.” Her eyes doubled in size as she looked up at him with a mixture of awe and adoration. 

“You really think so?” 

He nodded, smiling down at her, “Absolutely.” 

She had a look of enchantment on her face, looking up at him with those big sparkling eyes, "How so?" 

"Your energy feels like…" he tightened his hold on her hand, closing his eyes in what looked like concentration. Really, he was just looking for an excuse to hold her hand a little longer. Her skin was like silk. "It feels like a mixture of sunshine and moonshine.. like nothing I've ever felt before.." 

He opened his eyes to look down at her but blinked with surprise when she was floating right in front of him, their eyes level with each other. He blushed, stammering, "H-hello sweetness.." 

She laughed and it was a beautiful sight, so carefree and wild. "Did I surprise you?" 

"You did.." he grinned at her.

A scratchy noise came through his desk phone followed by Minthe snarling, "You have a call on line two it's Hermes." 

They both jumped at the sound of Minthe's voice. Persephone floated back down to the ground, looking over toward his desk nervously. Hades smiled apologetically, "I guess that's my cue.." 

Persephone smiled, biting her lip and doing a little curtsey backward. He sat at his desk with a look of disappointment on his face. She mirrored the look, turning and reaching for the door, hating to leave. 

_ Stop being silly, we work in completely different places..  _

She fantasized about being near him, having no reason to be other than the fact that she wanted to.. and maybe he wants to.. She daydreams about having lunch with him, staying here in his secluded office… just the two of them alone together.. Driving in his car… 

_ Stop!  _

She walked out past Minthe's desk, keeping her head down and walking fast toward the elevator. She felt her eyes on her, burning with a jealous rage watching her leave his office. To her surprise the nymph didn't say anything. A small smile grew on her lips. 

She entered the elevator and stood silently, pressing the button for her floor. Aphrodite's words rang in her ears.

_ NYMPHS DO NOT TAKE GODS FROM US! _

It felt strange to consider herself better or higher than a nymph because she grew up alongside so many nymphs who she considered powerful in their own ways. But Minthe.. 

She put a sour taste on her tongue. The very mention of her brought venom to Persephone's veins. When she saw her wrap herself around Hades like a snake it made her blood boil. There was a fire behind this jealousy. A sting in her heart at the thought that she's had Hades in all of the ways she dreams about. 

The fact that she's gotten to touch him.. kiss him.. be with him.. it makes her crazy thinking about it. She has to shake these thoughts from her head before she can focus on getting any work done. 

_ Crush it down. Push it away…  _

She arrived at her floor and walked out of the elevator toward the changing room. 

_ Can't keep thinking about him like this… _

Right before five when Minthe was packing up her things and preparing to leave Hades paged her to come into his office. She entered slowly, slinking in and locking the door behind herself, eyes meeting his as he stared at her from his seat. 

Minthe, cocky as ever just smiled, swaying her hips as she approached his desk, "So you've come to your senses.." 

Hades simply puffed on his cigar, eyes never leaving her face, "I wanted to address what you said last night." 

"Look, I was just--"

"Is that truly how you feel?" his eyes met hers, his filled with nothing but sincerity as he awaited her answer. Instead of answering him she slunk around his chair, putting her hands on his shoulders and dropping to her knees in front of him, 

"I'll make it up to you.." she ran a hand up his thigh, which he grabbed, still staring down at her. 

"Minthe, is that how you feel?" He met her eyes finally. She was dodging his question. "If that's really how you feel that's okay.. I wasn't sure this 'being official' thing was a good idea anyway.." 

Suddenly she looked hurt, "What do you mean by that?!"

“You don’t seem happy with me. You tell me you don’t want me… you make promises that you don’t keep.. You tell me I repulse you. You’ve said that multiple times… I.. ” it felt good to finally tell her all of this. “I just don’t see this going anywhere long-term..” 

To his surprise she didn’t fire back, she just looked up at him. He looked down at her, then away. She rose to her feet to fold her arms over her chest and glare at him. 

“So, what? You want to be done? Is that the truth?”

“Yes.” His eyes didn’t move from hers. 

“Why? Because of  _ her?”  _ she glared at him, accusing. 

He looked away quickly, “W-who?”

“Don’t play stupid, you ASSHOLE!” She shouted, raising her arms in fury. 

“Lower your voice.” 

“Fuck you! Tell me I’m wrong!!”

“You are wrong! This has nothing to do with Persephone.”

“I never even said her name you ASSHOLE!” She screamed furious tears, fuming, looking like she might explode.

"I said  _ lower your voice _ ." He hissed, not appreciating the way she was talking about Persephone. "I simply believe whatever we had has run its course.. as you said so eloquently last night." 

“You never let me apologize for that.”

“I think you said exactly what you meant.” He eyed her with a hardened look on his face.

Tears began budding in her eyes, she sounded winded as she said, “Hades, we… we can work this out..”

He stood from his desk, looking down at her, “I don’t think so.” 

Her tears brimmed over her eyes, falling down her cheeks, “H-Hades..”

“I’m sorry, Tadpole… we had some fun..” She collapsed into him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Minthe..”

“Hades, I’m sorry I’ve been so mean… I can change, I can try harder..” She cried into his suit. A part of him felt compelled to comfort her but he reminded himself that this was all an act he’d seen before. She continued pleading, “Give me another chance, big blue..” she started kissing at his neck. 

He pushed her backward, frowning at her, “Minthe.” 

Her tears got larger, her face turning a dark crimson, “What does she have that I don’t?”

“Don’t do that.” He sighed. “This isn’t about her, this is about you and me.” 

“I want to know. I want to know what it is. Is-is it because she’s a goddess and I’m a nymph?” She sniffled, wiping her tears away and spiraling into an insecure panic, “I knew I was never good enough for you, your family made that abundantly clear, but… I..” she cried harder. 

“Minthe, are you really happy with me?” He held her little chin in his hand, tilting her face up so he could meet her eyes. They were misty and slightly bloodshot, her lips pointing down in a trembling frown. “Are you?”

She bit her lip and looked away, then met his glowing red eyes, shaking her head softly, then bursting into tears again, “I’m never happy..” He hugged her to himself, holding her in his arms tight. It felt strange closing this chapter with her, they’d been together for a considerable amount of time… yet never really ‘together’. He comforted her and pulled her head back from his chest to give her one last kiss. It was soft and brief. He pulled back, stroking her cheek, 

“Minthe, I really do care about you… and I hope you can find someone who can make you happy.” She gulped and put a hand on his cheek. 

“W-we didn’t start out so bad, did we?”

“No.”

He smiled softly at her, feeling his heart ache, wishing things between them could have been different. It felt crazy that this was actually happening. Her tears brought him back to the reality of the moment. He felt his own tears begin to grow. 

She stepped backward out of his hug, wiping her eyes and looking up at him with a frown that she was trying to force into a smile. “I.. I’ll get going then..” 

“If you need a day or two off go ahead..” He offered, forcing his lips into a straight line, trying to hold his own tears back. Minthe just nodded once, tucking her long hair behind her ear and turning to walk out. He gulped, watching her leave. As the door shut he let himself collapse into his desk and cry. 

2 days later...

"Dinner!" Artemis called from the kitchen, finishing placing mashed potatoes on three plates. The rest of the dish was broccoli and chicken. One for her, Persephone and Hermes. 

The large dorky red God swooped into the kitchen to grab his plate, chirping, "Thanks!" 

Persephone emerged from her bedroom, rubbing her eyes and stretching. She yawned as she entered the kitchen, smiling at Artemis and patting her shoulder, "Thanks for dinner." 

"You're welcome." She eyed her, "Were you sleeping?" 

"Yeah I was studying and I must have just passed out." She reached for a fork and walked over to the table to join Hermes, smiling pleasantly at him, "Hello." 

"H-hi Persephone." He grinned between bites, blushing. He chewed and swallowed then asked, "How was your day?" 

She stabbed the stem of a piece of broccoli with her fork, looking down at the plate, "It was fine.." she pulled the fork up to take a bite. 

Hermes looked at her with concerned eyes, "Is something wrong?" 

Artemis then joined them at the table, answering, "She's all mopey over Hades." 

"Artemis!" Persephone cried out, wishing she hadn't just spilled her personal info. Hermes looked at her with wide eyes. 

"Hades?" He looked at Artemis, raising an eyebrow.

"She has a crush on him." 

"Artemis!!" 

"What?" She snapped at her, frowning down at her plate.

"I know you're mad at me but that doesn't give you the right to go around telling everyone my business." She looked hurt, eyes large and misty. 

Artemis sighed and set her fork down, "Persephone, I put a lot on the line to convince your mother to let you live here. And your scholarship.. I just don't get the feeling you're taking this all seriously.."

The magenta goddess looked at her with a wounded expression. "I never said I meant to pursue anything with him… plus, he's with someone else.."

"Persephone, do you have any idea how angry your mother would be with me if she knew about any of this?" 

"She's my mother, Artemis, I know exactly how much trouble I'm in.." she poked at her food, having no appetite. Hermes frowned, looking down at her. He cleared his throat to speak, 

"You know.. uh, the thing about crushes is.. they go away with time." He felt like he was talking to himself as equally as he was giving advice to her. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach at the thought of her liking Hades. He tried to smile reassuringly when she looked up at him, wiping tears from her eyes. 

"I hope so.." her lower lip trembled. Artemis watched her with a look of anger on her face, hating Hades for making her cry. It also filled her with anger at Persephone's perceived weakness. 

"You're letting him hurt you, y'know." 

She looked up, "Excuse me?" 

"Artemis.." Hermes warned. 

"You're letting him make you weak!" 

Persephone began to cry harder, pushing herself up from her seat and walking rapidly toward her bedroom. Hermes shook his head at Artemis and sighed. "That wasn't necessary." 

"She needed to hear it." She grimaced and sat back down to finish her dinner.

Once she was safe behind her bedroom door she let the tears rip from herself freely, letting the pain and hurt speak. She threw herself on her bed and cried herself hoarse. Once she felt out of breath and her eyes sore from crying she pulled her phone up off the nightstand beside her, checking for messages. It was almost 8pm. She had no messages. 

She sat up in bed, wiping any remaining tears away from her face. All she wanted was to talk to Hades, tell him what had happened. She knew he would understand. He always does. 

She thought about what she would say to him. How to come across casual, instead of needy… or just tell him the truth? She sighed, feeling winded from all that crying and whirlwind of emotions. 

She continued to resist the urge to text him or call him. He must be busy.  _ He doesn't want to hear all your problems.  _

She tried to think of something else. Of someone else. Anyone else she would want to talk to.. but she couldn't stop thinking about him. 

His handsome, angular face, strong jaw and broad shoulders.. those soft yet intense eyes.. his vocabulary, his intelligence… his love of his dogs.. 

_ He's perfect. He's absolutely perfect.  _

She imagined curling up in his arms, inhaling his fire in winter smell… 

_ I need to talk to him.  _

Before she could stop the impulse she opened her phone and called him. She held the phone to her ear, listening to the flat rings. 

Her heart fluttered when he answered in that irresistible low voice of his, "Evening, sweetness." She nearly swooned at the way he greeted her, biting her lip and closing her eyes, imagining she was beside him. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" 

"I just wanted to talk to you." She confessed, having no other reason.  _ I miss you.  _

He chuckled warmly, "About anything in particular, or…?" 

_ The fact that I can't stop thinking about you, for starters..  _ "N-nothing in particular, no." 

She could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "Oh." The one syllable drenched in meaning. "Well how was your day, sweetness?" 

"Not so good.."  _ my crush on you is impacting my ability to focus on anything..  _ "Artemis and I haven't been seeing eye to eye.." 

"I can relate to that. Her and I don't agree on anything." 

"So I've heard." The sound of his voice made her smile. 

"What was she giving you a hard time about?" 

_ Oh great, well I can't tell him.  _ She was terrible at lying and wasn't sure what to say. "It's.. too much to get into." 

"Ah." 

She decided to change the subject quick, "How was your day?" 

He paused and she heard a dog yapping in the background. He grumbled, "Wait one second.." she heard him set his phone down then speak to the offending dog, "What is it? I fed you, you got to pee, you got play time, what else do you need?!" She giggled at his exasperation. "Daddy can't cuddle right now, you need to wait." She heard him pick the phone back up, sighing, "Ugh, sorry about that." 

"No trouble at all, daddy." She giggled, thinking the way he referred to himself as 'daddy' was so adorable. 

"W-wh- y-you…" she could practically hear his brain short circuit. Then he laughed, sounding strained, "You're a funny little one.." 

"That's cute how you call yourself that.." 

"I started it ironically and now I can't stop." He chuckled lowly. She giggled in return. "Anyway.. my day was fine." 

She remembered the last time she'd seen him. "Did you ever talk to Minthe?" 

"I did in fact." 

"And?" She pressed as he didn't provide any more information. 

"We're taking a break.. maybe permanently." 

"Really?" She tried not to sound too excited, but something inside her twisted and jumped at the news. 

"Yeah we talked and I asked her if she was happy with me and she said she wasn't so.. I can't see it going anywhere from here." 

"How are you feeling?" 

"It's been a bit of an adjustment, but not that different really. She hardly ever did 'girlfriend' type things anyhow.." 

"Girlfriend type things?" She mimicked, a playful lilt in her voice. 

"Yeah, you know, like.. dates, going to parties.. family events.." Persephone was letting her imagination run wild hearing him talk like this. "She hated all that stuff." 

"How did she take it?" She was still basking in the warm glowing feeling of the fact that they were broken up. 

"Not great, but not terrible either." 

"How are you feeling?" She cooed.

"Fine, good." 

"That's good." 

From there their conversation deepened, drifting from one subject to another, deeply invested in what the other was saying. Time passed without either of them noticing, just slipping away into conversation. Neither of them ever wanting it to end. 

Artemis passed Persephone's door around midnight, raising her fist to knock but stopping as she heard her laughing and giggling. She grabbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. 

"Gaia grant me strength…" 


	3. Chapter 3

“Kore, can you talk?” 

Instead of responding to his text Persephone picked up her phone and called him. He answered on the second ring, chirping pleasantly, “Morning, sweetness.” 

The sound of his voice made blue flowers sprout from her head happily, “Good morning Hades,” she couldn’t get the smile off her face.

His tone suddenly changed and he sounded nervous as he asked, “D-Do you have plans for lunch?”

She considered for a moment then shook her head, answering, “No, I don’t.”

“W-would you… c-care to join me for lunch?” 

The proposition struck her by surprise and made her blush and bite her lip as she smiled and said in a dreamy voice, “I would love to.” 

She heard him release a big sigh of relief, followed by a voice in the background that hissed, _“Now was that so hard?!”_ It sounded like Hecate. She heard Hades take a sharp inhale like he’d been punched. 

“Is that Hecate?” Persephone grinned, raising an eyebrow. 

“N-no, no one is here..” He’s a terrible liar.

Persephone chuckled and decided to let him have this one, wondering if it was Hecate who had pushed him to ask this question in the first place. The thought that Hades was too nervous to ask her out to lunch on his own made her insides melt. 

It had been three days since he’d called things off with Minthe and to everyone’s surprise she came back to work the very next day and has acted completely normal since. Almost too normal… Persephone felt a twinge of anxiety at the thought that she could just be a rebound.. Or that Minthe may try to worm her way back into his life. Her nonchalance about the entire breakup was too cavalier. 

Hades’ voice pulled her from her anxious thoughts, “So, meet me in my office around one o’clock?” 

“Sounds good.” she looked up and caught a glimpse of herself beaming like a lunatic in her vanity mirror.

“Alright, I’ll see you then.” 

“Okay, bye Hades.”

“Bye, sweetness.” the line died and as it clicked off a flurry of nervous butterflies skittered around in her stomach and up her spine. She took a long look at herself, taking inventory of her rosy red cheeks, dilated pupils and messy hair. It’s insane what just hearing his voice felt like, it made her heart beat nervously thinking about what lunch will be like. Sitting across a table from him.. Pretending she’s not going crazy from nerves. 

_No, this isn’t a date… stop thinking like that. On the other hand… if it isn’t a date then what is it?_

She was stressing herself out and stood from the vanity, looking at her outfit in the mirror and suddenly second guessing it. She was wearing what was essentially a black halter top with lace sleeves that left her torso exposed. On her bottom half she wore a medium-length skirt that hugged her hips and reached down to the top of her knees. She did a spin then decided to braid her hair so she could pin it in a crown around her head. 

She looked down at her vanity and found a long black ribbon she didn’t remember being there. She picked it up and began braiding it through her hair, liking how she looked in black. Wearing black made her feel more grown up… like a better match for Hades.. It was becoming a new identity she was curious to explore. 

Demeter never let her wear dark colors, always saying they didn’t “suit her”. Persephone was starting to realize that along with her name this new look could help her detach from her other ‘self’, the one that her mother created. Kore belonged to Demeter… Persephone could be someone else entirely… 

She finished the braid and pinned it up around her head in a delicate crown, smiling at her handiwork, quite liking how it turned out. She took one last look at herself and watched with delight as black roses sprouted out around her head in a crown that grew right through her braids. 

“Perfect.”

She grabbed her phone and her ID badge for the tower, then reached for her black peacoat, closing her bedroom door behind herself and striding toward the kitchen. Artemis stood with a cup of coffee in her hand, being the first to say, "Morning,"

"Morning," Persephone replied and reached for a banana, pulling it from the bunch. She watched Artemis' eyes widen as she saw her outfit. 

"Persephone, about the other night…"

"I'm sorry, I have to get going, could we chat later?" She started inching toward the door. Artemis made a face then exhaled sharply and turned her head. Persephone took it as a cue to leave so she did just that. 

She didn't like being at odds with Artemis, especially after all she had done to convince her mother to let her come here in the first place.. but she was tired of being told what to do. 

She walked out of the apartment complex and began her commute to work.

“Okay, bye Hades.”

“Bye, sweetness.” Hades lingered for a moment then hung up the phone. He tucked it into his pocket and turned toward Hecate with a wide-eyed look of anger. “Smooth! Real smooth!”

"Do you always call her 'sweetness'?" 

Hades blushed. Hecate roared with laughter, “It’s not _my_ fault you’re afraid to ask her to lunch.” she made a ‘pfft’ sound and flipped her short hair, giving him a sassy glare, the corners of her mouth turning upward.

“You could have been quieter?!” He exploded, then rapidly regained his composure, sighing a long, hard sigh, “No matter, she said yes.” a small grin tugged at his lips.

Hecate circled him where he sat at his desk, “Remember what I said.”

He looked up at her with a delirious grin, “Yes, I remember. Would you like me to recite it to you?” 

“Do **not** kiss her, the most you should be doing right now is holding hands.” She gave him a stern look, “I’m serious, Hades. She is nineteen.” 

“This isn’t a date, y’know? Just two friends going out to lunch.” Hecate eyed him, knowing every word he said was bullshit. 

“Uh huh, sure.” 

He narrowed his eyes at her, playing devil’s advocate, “Anyway, what if she tries to kiss me? Are you suggesting I refuse her?”

“Oh, I’m surprised your head fits in your crown.” She grabbed the bridge of her nose and hissed a sigh of frustration. 

“Hecate, I’m joking. Of course I won’t kiss her. What kind of fiend do you think I am?” 

“The kind that kisses on the first date.” She raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Not with her.” Hecate caught that dreamy glimmer in his eyes. “Not this time..” 

She couldn’t help but smile as she started walking toward the doors, chuckling, “Don’t forget to get a little work done before lunch.” It felt nice to see Hades genuinely excited and happy about someone. She’d never seen him this way, not with anyone he’d ever dated before. It was refreshing, yet she still worried he might get his heart broken. 

Persephone walked in through the large high doors, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets at the chilly breeze that wafted into the building with her. She made her way to the elevator and got in with a handful of other people, she reached forward to press her floor level. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and pulled it up to look at it. It was an incoming call from Artemis. She guessed it had to be important and answered, 

“Artemis?”

“Kore, your mom is here.” 

“What? Why?” 

“I don’t know, but she’s here.”

“J-just tell her I’m at work, I can’t talk to her right now.” 

“I’ll try, but--” she heard a scuffle on the other line, then her mother’s voice, “Kore?”

She looked around herself and waited for the doors to open and let her off at her floor before answering, quietly, “Yes, mama?”

“Kore, I haven’t heard from you, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine, mama, doing just fine..”

“Hera told me about your internship in the Underworld.” she scoffed, making a displeased noise, “I tried to get her to re-assign you but she said it couldn’t be done.” she cursed Hera under her breath.

“Everything’s fine, mama, really, I’m safe here.” 

“What job does he have you doing?”

“Shade coordinator, it’s really quite simple.” 

“Working directly with shades?!” she hissed and sighed, “I don’t like this, Kore.” 

“Mama, I’m alright, I really am.” She walked down the long halls toward the locker room, “It’s nice to get a different perspective on things…” 

“Well, the moment you change your mind you let me know honey and I’ll have you pulled from it, okay?”

Persephone rolled her eyes, “Okay, mama, I’ve gotta go.” 

“Alright, alright, call soon!” it was less of a request, more of a demand.

“I will, mama, gotta go, bye!” she clicked end, letting out a heavy sigh and walking into the locker room, getting ready to change into mortal attire for her shift. 

12:50 pm.

Hades was pacing his office, chain smoking cigars and thinking himself into a panic. 

_What if this is a bad idea? Am I being too forward? What if she doesn’t want anything to do with me?_ His father’s voice boomed in his head, ringing his ears: ‘She doesn’t.’

He pulled the cigar from his lips and sat at his desk, trying to calm himself down. He caught a glimpse of himself in the black screen of his computer. His eyes were glowing red, jaw held in a tight, tense position. _Fuck, I need to calm down._

For some reason he couldn’t explain he suddenly felt out of his depth, like he’d never been on a lunch date before. He felt the same fear all over again, feeling much younger suddenly. The thought of being alone with her, talking to her and only her filled him with anxiety. His heart was pounding at the thought of being near her, mind wandering and imagining what she might be wearing or how she’d done her hair.. 

_But she’s so beautiful.. It doesn’t matter what she wears or how she does her hair… she’s so flawless and gorgeous no matter what, she doesn’t even have to try…_

_Stop. Fantasizing about her and blowing it out of proportion isn’t going to help anything!_

He let out a long sigh and crushed his cigar, hating the way smoking dried out his mouth. He stood and walked into the connecting bathroom and reached into the behind the mirror cabinet to grab his toothbrush. He scrubbed out his mouth, incredibly self-conscious about having bad breath in front of her, completing the routine with mouthwash and a spritz of cologne. He carded his fingers through his hair, fixing it so it wasn’t falling over his face so much, pushing it back and checking his teeth one last time. 

He turned, walking back into his office and resuming his pacing. His phone buzzed, it was a text from Hecate. It read: “Relax, it’s going to go great.” Sometimes he thought she might be able to read his mind. He texted back, 

“Thanks, hope so.” 

“She likes you, just be yourself.” This reminded him of Eros’ call. _“She likes you.”_ Why is it so obvious to everyone but him? He stuffs his phone back in his pocket and happens to catch the label of a bottle of whiskey he had sitting on a shelf. 

_One shot will be fine…_

At this point he was looking for anything to calm his nerves. He walked over to the shelf and reached up at it, pulling the dusty bottle off and brushing the years of neglect away. He twisted it open and took a whiff, eyes fluttering from the intoxicating aroma. He pulled it back to check the date on it. It was just shy of 40 years old. _Not bad._

He brushed the dust away from the lip of the bottle, _just one shot,_ then glued it to his lips and took a long pull on it, about two gulps, savoring the flavor. He swallowed the warm liquor then pulled the bottle from his lips, blinking at the feeling as it ran down his throat. A feeling akin to heartburn scorched his throat for a moment, before he hissed out a sigh, staring down at the wicked bottle. Potent for sure. 

He tightened the lid back on and placed it on the shelf, probably to be forgotten for another 40 to 80 years. He moved to sit on his futon then ended up lounging, putting his feet up on the other side of it and letting his eyes fall shut for a moment, feeling relaxed for the first time since he’d called her today. 

A small, timid trio of knocks sounded at his door. He shot up on the futon, shaking himself a little then walking to the door and opening it, trying to look dignified and professional as he said, “Hello, sweetn-ness-”, his eyes fell on her. She was wearing all black, with a black ribbon and black roses in her hair, down to her shoes. He felt his mouth dry up as he noticed her exposed middle, immediately tearing his eyes back up to her face, hoping she hadn’t noticed him noticing. He opened the door fully and stepped aside, “W-won’t you please come in?” _Gods, what am I, a butler?! Get your shit together._

She just smiled, walking in gracefully. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked stunning. The black contrasted with her skin in a way that nothing else did. She threw off glowing pink light wherever she went, literally rose-tinting his world. He made a small, uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat that he hoped went unnoticed by her. 

She set her large, magnetic eyes on him, thick lips parting as she slid her jacket off her arms, revealing nothing but clinging black lace down her arms. _She has to be doing this on purpose, there’s no way she’s not._ He groaned a bit more audibly this time, then blushed as her quick eyes caught his discomfort. She smiled and said, “What did you have in mind for lunch?” 

He cleared his throat, “W-well there’s many different places here, what kind of food do you prefer?” He made sure to stand at least five feet away from her, afraid of what might happen if he got any closer. 

She considered, making a face as she did, tilting her head to the side. Hades found it adorable. “Hmm, well Eros said Thai food is good..” 

“Oh, did he?” he raised an eyebrow, thinking about what else Eros had said, wondering if she had any clue. It looked like she didn’t. She giggled, not understanding why he was teasing her, breaking that five foot bubble as she poked at his middle, laughing, 

“Yeah, he did! Why are you teasing me?” Masculine panic kicked in but he tried to mask it, speaking in a husky voice, 

“Uh, because it’s fun and very easy.” He caught her little hands as they tried to jab at him again, gazing down at her, “Why do you insist on attacking me, little goddess?”

“Someone needs to, you’ve gone far too long without someone challenging your authority.” she smirked up at him.

“Is that so?”

She pulled her hands away and smiled, “Kings can be awfully cocky, Hades.” 

“Is that what you think I am? Cocky?” He raised a thick eyebrow at her.

“A little,” she shrugged, then smiled, “Not as bad as most of the Olympians, though.” 

“Thanks for that at least,” he chuckled, having to remind himself to stay on track, “So Thai food? I know a place.”

She grinned and pulled her jacket back on, “Let’s go then!” Being the gentleman he is, he offered his elbow to her to take while they walked out but she missed the gesture entirely and walked out ahead of him. He tried not to let it bother him, smiling down at her and following her out, calling after her, “Wait, I need to lock my office.” 

She stopped and flipped around to smile and laugh at him. In the process of turning she happened to notice Minthe, who was sitting at her desk, her ears tucked behind her head and eyebrows set in a hard, angry gaze directed at her. Persephone pretended she didn’t see her and stood, smile growing as Hades walked toward her. 

He led them to the elevator and got in with her, not noticing Minthe was even there. He clicked the button for the basement and as the doors shut he turned to look down at Persephone, who had a wide-eyed look of horror on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Didn’t you see Minthe glaring daggers at me?” Her eyebrows rose in concern on her forehead.

“Oh, I… I guess I didn’t notice her..” he tossed her what he was aiming to be a flirtatious glance. 

“She looked really upset..” Persephone didn’t receive his message. He crouched down a little so he was closer to her level and said softly, 

“Kore, you really don’t have to worry about her anymore.” She looked up, meeting his soft red irises. 

He offered his hand to her, she put her little hand in his palm, looking up at him with worry in her eyes. “She looked like she wanted to kill me.” 

“Minthe is all bark and no bite. Besides, do you really think I’d ever let anything happen to you?” he rose his brow at her and she pulled her hand away as blush colored her cheeks and blue flowers sprouted from her hair. An electrified moment passed between them before the elevator ‘ding’-ed and Hades said in a funny voice, “Well, this is our stop..” 

She looked up at him and couldn’t help but laugh at what a dork he really was, giggling and stepping out of the elevator with him close behind. He side-stepped and pushed the door open for her that led to the garage, holding it open as she walked through. He caught up to her then offered his elbow a second time and this time she noticed and wrapped her arm around it as they stepped into the chilly underground garage. 

_Success!_

He felt his heart beat faster when he felt her lean softly into his side, yawning, “Sorry, I’m so tired today.” 

“Did you not sleep well last night?”

She shook her head, blinking slow and heavy, “I kept having nightmares.” 

_I can relate to that.._

He got a thought. A crazy thought. Right as it surfaced in his mind he rejected it and pushed it down, thinking it was absurd and she’d never go for it. Plus it just sounds sleazy, but… He wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions as they ran across his face, Persephone looked up at him curiously, 

“Were you going to say something?”

“I… Oh, there’s my car!” He picked up the pace and walked them swiftly to the passenger side as he opened the door for her. She removed her arm from around his, then looked up at him before stepping into the car. 

“What were you going to say?” 

He made a face and shut her door as soon as she was in the seat, walking around to his side. _You giant idiot, why did you do that? Hide your thoughts, for Fates sake!_ He sighed hard before opening his door and getting in, shutting it behind himself. He turned to look at her. She looked up at him with glowing, expectant eyes. “I have a feeling you were going to suggest something, weren’t you?” the smile that spread across her face was stunning to say the least.

A gust of air left him, he felt woozy all of a sudden and confessed, “W-well, I… I’m pretty tired myself, I.. I was going to suggest we get take out and watch a movie at my place… or something..” When he saw her blush he assumed he’d crossed a line and back-tracked, “O-or you can just use my guest room to take a nap, wh-whatever you’d like..” 

“That sounds… wonderful..” her eyes sparkled with wonder, “W-what about the rest of the work day?”

He smirked, “I’m the boss, aren’t I?” 

She bit her lip and grinned up at him, “You wanna get pizza?” 

“That sounds perfect.” They gazed at each other with an equally intoxicated look on both their faces. Persephone looked down and buckled her seat belt then turned to him with the most innocent and pure little grin ever, chirping like a songbird, 

“Let’s go?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being so patient with me!  
> Love all of you!

"You're really up for this?" Hades' voice shook ever so slightly, reminding himself to breathe as he set his gaze on her. Her eyes locked on his, she smiled and replied in that musical voice of hers, 

"It's not like I haven't been to your house before.." she blinked her heavy lashes and looked away as a light blush dusted her cheeks.

"That is true.." his real question was _you want to spend a day with me? You want to be around me?_ He buckled his seat belt, smiling and turning the car on then began backing out of his parking spot. 

"So what kind of movies do you like?" She cast a curious glance at him as he drove out of the parking garage and onto the street. 

"Well…” he considered for a moment, casting her a quick glance, “You can’t make fun of me when I tell you.”

“Well that depends entirely on what your answer is.” she giggled.

He chuckled and pulled up to a stop light, then cast a glance at her. "I like old black and white movies and film noir.." 

She blinked, looking puzzled. "Film noir?" She repeated in a curious tone.

"Yes, sweetness, do you know what that is?" 

"Well, I know that 'noir' means black in French..." 

"Yes, that is true." He stopped at a light and gave her an impressed grin, "Film noir refers to movies that are usually crime thrillers or romances, bad ones. Intense grim-ness." 

"Huh.." she looked out the window, guessing it made sense that the king of the Underworld might have a dark taste in movies. As they made a turn she recognized where they were, his home was less than a minute away. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you watch anything gruesome.. I think I have a good movie in mind for you.” 

"Oh, do you?" She giggled, feeling delirious from all this attention she was receiving from him. It all felt almost too good to be true, she expected there to be a catch. 

"Yes." He grinned and pulled up to his home, clicking a button and driving into the garage as it opened. "But first I need to order us some pizza." 

He parked and turned off the car, glancing over at her as he unbuckled his seatbelt. She did the same, he stood swiftly out of his side and walked around to open her door for her. She had a feeling she'd never open a door for herself again if she stuck around him.. it was a feeling that made her warm from her middle and radiated outward. 

"You remember your way around, right?" He smirked, smiling down his long nose at her. 

"I think so.." whether that statement was true or not she clung to his side as though she'd never been here before. Truthfully, it was only the second time she'd ever been here with him, and the first time she had been pretty out of it. They walked up into his kitchen together, where he paused and politely offered her a drink.

"Just water is great." She smiled, then lifted her eyebrows as she heard what sounded like a small pack of wolves running, nails clicking the hard floor as they ran. "Oh, hello good boys!" She chirped as all seven of his dogs came bounding excitedly into the room to greet them. Hades set her glass of ice water on the counter top. 

To his surprise his loyal pack of dogs did not mewl and paw at his legs like usual, instead they all barked excitedly and swarmed Persephone. He worried she may be overwhelmed but the look on her face said otherwise as she giggled and greeted each dog individually, calling each by their name perfectly. He was impressed. "How did you remember all their names?" 

"How could I forget?" She looked up at him with dreamy, sparkling eyes. It made him blush as he thought for a moment she actually put in effort to remember each and every one of his animal's names. It made him feel weak in the middle. "I love all animals, especially yours.." she gave him a coy little grin that made his face feel too warm.

He had to change the subject or he would implode, watching her crouch down and happily be swarmed by the pack made his brain go places he wasn't sure he wanted it to go. "W-what kind of toppings do you like on your pizza?" 

She considered for a moment, then shrugged, "I don't really dislike anything except for olives." She made a face. 

"Olives?" He smiled, "A Grecian goddess does not like the taste of olives?" He chuckled, feeling himself compelled to tease her. 

"No, I do not!" She huffed and folded her arms over her chest, making her already ridiculously hard to ignore bosom pop out even more prominently. He sighed sharply and cursed himself internally. "They're yucky." 

He bit his lip, gazing at her, "Did you just use the word 'yucky', sweetness?" He found it adorable. 

She blushed then focused her energy back on the dogs whining for her attention. 

"Alright, so… I usually get this really delicious thin crust with white sauce, spinach and chicken, does that sound like something you'd like?" 

"Sure, sounds good." She giggled as she took turns rubbing bellies, each dog getting jealous of the last. 

"If you get sick of them I can kick them outside." He offered with a smile.

"No, no, this is fine!" She laughed, "Since I left the mortal realm I've had much less contact with animals and I've missed that.. so, this is nice. I love your dogs." 

_And I love you.._ Hades gulped, forcing the thought to the back of his mind. "I-I'm going to call the pizza place.." he began walking toward his living room. 

"Okay!" She was preoccupied with scratching dog bellies. He felt his stomach liquify. If ever he saw the perfect woman… 

_She's too good for you. Too incredible to ever belong to you._

He wondered what gave Zeus the confidence to walk up to any woman and say whatever he wanted, when Hades struggled to speak to just one woman. The rest didn't matter, no one he'd seen before compared. Maybe that's the difference between he and his brother, one woman is definitely enough for Hades. Since he's known her he finds himself blind and uninterested in any other woman. The last few times he'd slept with Minthe he had to think of Persephone to get him through it. 

He dialed the restaurant's number and was placed on an immediate hold. His mind wandered. He should have broken up with Minthe the first time he had to think of Persephone, but he didn't. He'd hoped the feelings would go away but they've only intensified. 

Minthe has completely iced him out since they'd broken up. It actually was making him suspicious of what she was planning. She's never been the quiet, keep-to-herself type so her silence had him on edge. The phone clicked to life on the other end and someone asked 'carry out or delivery'. 

"Delivery, please." He proceeded to order, mind still focused on his previous thoughts. He absentmindedly read off his credit card number, then gave a "Thanks," as they told him it would be about half an hour.

He ended the call and walked back into the kitchen, where Persephone was still rubbing and loving on at least three dogs at once, then rotating. 

"You're incredible.." the words slipped from his lips before he could reel them back in. His eyes widened with horror, which he quickly masked. She looked up at him with an easy, soothing smile as her lovely, musical voice laughed, 

"Oh, this is nothing, mama taught me to speak to animals when I was tiny." She scratched at Cerberus' sturdy neck, "Your animals tell me they're very happy here and that you take very good care of them.." the smile on her face was radiant, lighting up the entire room. 

He choked, then cleared his throat, speaking in a raspy voice, "Oh, th-that's good to know." 

"They all want to go on a walk, too." 

"Well, that's absurd because I had them all walked today, I pay someone to do it." 

Persephone looked in Fudge's eyes then said, "They didn't come today." 

"What?" 

"No one showed up. They didn't get a walk." 

"Are you kidding me? I didn't receive a text saying she wouldn't be here.." he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through messages. 

"We could take them! You said it would be a half hour on the food, right?" 

Hades was still preoccupied with finding some sort of message from the dog walker, there was none. "I can't believe.. no one notified me.." he sighed, "Looks like I need a new dog-walker.." 

"Ooh-oo I'll do it!" She bounced.

He chuckled, "Persephone, you already work for me.." 

"I could do this too! If you're okay with that?" She wriggled with excitement.

_Spend more time with you? Sure! Of course!_

_Fates, this is a disaster waiting to happen… as if the internship isn't bad enough… To hell with keeping a distance._

"I...I U-uhh.." his mouth couldn't catch up to his brain and the delay was obvious. 

"You don't have to answer now, but I think after we go on a walk you'll reconsider.." she smiled slyly, gazing with her heavy-lashed eyes. 

He imagined her tiny figure holding seven leashes, being swarmed by a giant pack of dogs of all shapes and sizes as they tugged at their leashes. He wondered if she would be strong enough to harness them all. But judging by the way she had them all sitting in a circle around her right now.. maybe she wouldn't have a hard time at all. 

It seems all natural, living things are attracted to her. Animals adore her, mortals adore her… and it's not hard to see why. She's very lovable, he tried to convince himself it wasn't his fault that he craves her every second of every day… 

Why would a being of death like himself be so drawn to a beam of life and light like her? He always thought a dark partner would be his answer, but it turns out he knows nothing about himself anymore. He blinked out of his daze. 

"Ahem," he cleared his throat once more, "Let's plan the walk for after we eat? I can let them outside to play for now." 

"Okay." She stood, the dogs stood with her. He chuckled, 

"Here, follow me so they'll follow." He walked toward the back door that led to the backyard. She walked to the door and as he opened it the dogs raced out. All but Cerberus, who nuzzled her once more then bolted off. Hades pulled the door shut, Persephone peeked through the window at the dogs, smiling, "Sweet creatures." 

"I do love those dogs." He smiled. 

"I can tell." She walked past him, toward the living room, "Is this where you want to watch the movie?" She gazed at his giant television, seeing her reflection in it and Hades standing behind her in the distance. 

"That's what I had planned, yes." 

She walked around the thick slab of dark rock that was his coffee table, over to the couch, where she sat. He walked slowly forward into the room. 

"Does this couch pull out?" She blinked innocently up at him. He couldn't stop the flood of images that entered his mind as he imagined lying beside her. 

"Y-yes, it does.." she just smiled up at him, chirping, 

"Come, sit down." She patted the cushion beside her, eyes never leaving his face. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, pushing his thick, shimmering white locks aside as he sat beside her. His eyes glowed red as they set on hers. 

Neither of them wanted to spoil the moment by saying the wrong thing so they just sat, only a foot apart blushing and staring at each other. Hades cleared his throat and locked his fingers together, setting his interlocked hands on his lap, "Did you w-want to start the movie?" 

"Shouldn't we wait until the pizza gets here?" 

"I have no preference, it's up to you.." his eyes brushed past her middle, wanting to reach out and touch that little roll of soft pink flesh. She saw him look and grabbed one of his couch pillows to cover her middle, blushing and whining, 

"Don't look at my tummy roll!" He blushed, _Smooth, real smooth.._ having been caught and said in a strained voice, 

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you.." 

She blushed, clutching the pillow to herself and gazing at him, really not minding that he was looking, only hoping he liked what he saw. Her cheeks continued blushing furiously dark red. He scooted ever so slightly closer, voice low and husky, "Forgive me for staring, sweetness," _I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and these little outfits you wear really take a toll on me… I am simply a moth caught in your light.._ "I apologize.." 

She loosened her grip on the pillow, blinking slow at him, biting her lip. She slowly lowered it and dropped the pillow to the ground, looking up at him with wide eyes. He met her eyes and forced himself to stay there, commanding his eyes not to venture lower. 

"I'm not upset with you.." she scooted closer to him on the couch. He felt his heart rate spike, the room suddenly felt smaller, his senses ablaze. 

Thankfully a knock on the door gave him a reason to excuse himself as he shot up gratefully, letting out a strained breath he'd been holding in. 

"Yay pizza!" She cheered as he opened the door and took the box from the delivery driver. 

"Thanks." He handed them a crisp twenty dollar bill and shut the door softly, turning back to Persephone. "Do you want to eat in there or here in the kitchen?" 

"Kitchen!" She stood and followed him into the kitchen, where she perched on a stool and beamed up at him. He reached into his cabinets for two plates, handing one to her and scooting his napkin holder closer to her. Her forgotten glass of water had a puddle of condensation around it, she lifted it and took a long drink. 

He picked up a slice and put it on her plate, then grabbed one for himself and set it beside her. He reached into his wine cabinet, "Would you like anything else to drink? I was thinking a red wine might be nice." 

She smiled up at him, cocking her head to the side, considering and chewing her pizza.

"Would you like a taste test?" He grinned and pulled a bottle of red wine down, pulling out his bottle opener. He twisted the metal device into the cork and placed it perfectly down so it could grip the edges of the bottle and he could pull the cork up and out. She watched him like he was a magician, having never seen a wine bottle be uncorked up close. 

He held the opened bottle up triumphantly and flashed her a handsome toothy grin. Then, he reached behind himself into the cabinet for two wine glasses, putting one in front of her and gently pouring about a teaspoon worth of wine. She took the glass, looking up at him curiously, sniffing it and fluttering her eyes from the heavy aroma. 

“Too strong?” his eyebrows pulled up toward the middle of his forehead in concern. “I can grab a younger wine… this one is about ten years old.”

“Wait, I didn’t even taste it.” she pulled the glass up to her thick lips, parting them softly over the edge of the glass and tilting it upward, taking a sip at the less perfume-y, much heavier and bitter taste of the dark crimson liquid. She didn’t hate it, but she wasn’t sure she could drink a whole glass of it. 

“I could mix it with some juice if you’d like, it’ll make it easier to drink.” it’s as if he read her mind, she nodded and handed him the glass, wriggling with excitement at being treated like an adult. She felt so grown up sipping wine, wearing stylish clothes, riding around in fast cars, staying up late… _Mama would have a heart attack if she knew_.

As she went to take another bite of her pizza he set the glass in front of her again but this time it was full, with two ice cubes and a sliced strawberry and raspberry perched on the side of the glass. She looked into it and saw little bits of pomegranate floating among the ice cubes. 

“I hope you like it.”

“I didn’t know you were a bartender too!” she exclaimed with surprise at the fancy, amazing smelling drink set before her. 

"Oh hardly.." he looked away bashfully. 

She brought it to her lips and took a sip. “Mmmm!” she took another, hardly tasting the bitterness of the wine, “Pomegranate juice?” 

“And a little bit of cranberry juice.” 

“Hades, this is delicious!” 

“I’m glad you like it.” he smiled gently at her and poured himself a glass of wine then moved to sit beside her and grab his slice of pizza. The two ate in silence for a moment, both of their mouths full, taking intermittent drinks. Persephone was amazed that a drink with wine could taste so good, she remembered accidentally trying it as a child and thinking it was the grossest thing ever. 

She finished her slice of pizza then downed the rest of her drink, peeking at him from the corner of her eye. He finished what he was chewing then chuckled, “Wow, you finished that quick.”

“Would you make me another one? That was so good.” His heart began beating faster, remembering the last time she’d had too much to drink and how he’d ended up tucking her into his guest bed. He remembered her little hands pawing at his face, pulling him closer… taking her shoes off her tiny feet. 

“A-Are you sure, sweetness?” 

She nodded excitedly, then her expression fell a little and she looked up at him with big, sparkling eyes, “Unless you don’t think I should have more?” the way she looked down and ducked her head submissively sent an electric shockwave up his spine. It frightened him the amount of power he could have over her if he wanted.

She was still awaiting his answer. “I th-think you’re old enough to make your own decisions..” _Who am I to tell her what to do? I may judge human morality but how could I apply this system to her? She’s my equal._ “Don’t you?” he raised an eyebrow at her, smiling to mask his nervousness.

As his answer sunk in a large, delighted smile spread across her face and she handed her glass to him, requesting softly in her sweet voice, “Another please.” 

“Of course.” He stood and began re-making her drink, trying to do everything the exact same as he had the first time since she seemed to like it. He poured everything in and swirled it around for a moment before dropping a few more pomegranate bits in and handing it back to her. 

“Thank you,” She brought it to her lips to take a sip, “Mmm,” he returned to his seat to finish his slice of pizza, taking a slow sip of his wine, side-eyeing her with a grin. “What?” she giggled.

He set his glass down and swallowed, muttering, “It’s nothing.”

“What’s nothing?” she challenged, smiling up at him with that devilish playful grin of hers.

He reached for another slice of pizza, sighing and chuckling. _I just keep getting caught staring at you and I find it harder and harder to care if you catch me. It’s hard not to stare at you in awe because you’re so unbelievably beautiful.._ “I’m just glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

She took a sip of her drink, then set it down, looking up at him, _I wish I could stop staring at your handsome dorky face. I wish you would just know without me saying that I think you’re the most perfect God I’ve ever seen._ “I am… I love being here..” _with you._

After that the two were quiet as Hades finished his slice of pizza and wine glass. Persephone finished her drink as well. Hades got up and refilled both their drinks then walked to the living room, setting his wine down on the coffee table and clicking his TV to life. Persephone circled the couch then sat beside him but still a safe distance apart. She watched him fiddle with a few things before the TV screen snapped to a DVD menu in black and white that read: “It Happened One Night”. 

“What’s this?”

“It’s an old movie I think you’ll like.” he clicked play and returned to the couch to sit beside her, sipping his wine and trying to look nonchalant, she did the same. They watched the old fashioned opening credits roll out, naming off the director, producer and actors. He turned his head, smiling at her, teasing, “You have seen a movie before, right?”

“Yes!” she hissed and play-smacked at his thigh. 

He howled with laughter, “Well, I can never be sure with you!” 

They were quiet for a while after that, both drinking and watching the story start to play out. Hades stole a glance at her while she was watching the screen with those large eyes of hers. He hoped he wasn’t boring her with this old movie. He worried he was too old for her and she might become bored with him, that was his worst fear. She might want someone younger and cooler… closer to her age at least. He worked himself into a panic as he speculated at the thoughts that might be in her head. 

Persephone finished her drink and set it aside, stretching her arm up over her head and yawning, feeling the alcohol course through her veins. It made her feel heavier and slower. “Where’s your bathroom?” 

“Down the hall, to the left. Do you want me to pause this?”

“If you don’t mind.” she smiled, cheeks flushed from the alcohol. He clicked pause on the remote, she reached down to take her shoes off before walking off to the bathroom. 

Once she got inside the bathroom and shut the door behind herself she let out a shaky sigh. _Oh gods, I drank a little too much.._ it snuck up on her, the wine was hidden so well with the flavorful juice she hadn't realized how much she'd drank. 

She looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, cheeks and chest flushed dark pink, making the freckles on her skin stand out even more. Her hairstyle had several locks falling out so she decided just to take it out, pulling pins out, releasing her hair step by step. She shook her head and let her hair fall heavy around her shoulders. 

She took one last look at herself before moving to the toilet. 

Hades tapped his fingers nervously against his half full glass of wine, opening his phone, trying to distract himself. His heart fell as he saw a text from Minthe. He fought with himself over whether he should open it or not but ended up clicking on it. 

It read: 'I miss you.' 

He scoffed and locked his phone then shoved it back in his pocket. _This is such bullshit. Of course she says that now. Fuck._

A gentle cough made him snap his head toward the little goddess that made the sound. He had to blink twice, stunned by her beauty as she sauntered into the room with a radiant smile, blushing, hair down to her waist and flowing around her. She hiccuped.

He couldn't help but laugh at the adorable sound. Her eyebrows crashed hard over her eyes and she shouted, "50 percent scoundrel!" She hiccuped once more.

He laughed harder and threw his hands up to defend himself as she launched herself at him, climbing up on his lap and grabbing the lapels of his suit, shaking him, "Don't you laugh at me! It's your fault I'm tipsy!" 

He took her little wrists in his large hands, continuing to laugh at her as she tried to swing at him, "If I recall correctly it was your decision to drink?" 

She giggled and tried to break free from his strong hands, tugging her wrists. Just then she realized she was sitting in his lap and felt her face burst into flames, heat coursing through her veins and racing up her spine. He released her wrists and she let her hands fall to his chest, looking down then up at his face. 

They stared at each other with wide eyes, each too afraid to move and spook the other. Hades mirrored Persephone's perplexed expression. She bit her lip, then blinked her heavy lashed eyes up at him. 

"You're warm." She confessed then leaned forward, gently pressing her cheek to his chest, right above his pocket square. She closed her eyes and let herself wrap up in his warmth, the alcohol in her breaking down her self-awareness and revealing her uninhibited self. She sighed happily into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt him tense and murmured softly against him, "I hope this is okay.." 

He was still frozen solid but replied, robotically, "Th-this is… fine." 

They sat silently for a moment, he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He reached for the remote and clicked play on the movie. Slowly, so slowly that Persephone barely noticed, Hades returned the embrace and moved his arms around the shape of her. She made a soft content coo and nuzzled into him closer, curling up like a cat in his lap. Hades found it hard to breathe. 

They sat, holding each other for an immeasurable amount of time. Hades had his eyes closed, heartbeat and breathing synced with hers until he noticed her breathing slowing and evening out, her arms falling limply from around his waist. He listened for a moment longer and guessed she had fallen asleep. He smiled, pressing a secret kiss into the crown of her head. 

He was afraid to move and wake her, the movie still played softly in the background. He tried to get up but she whined and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

The feeling of her body pressed solidly into his... in real life... he wasn't imagining it...

_Gods…_

He closed his eyes and breathed her in, nose buried in her hair. He stayed like this for a moment, just in awe of his luck. Although he had to admit his arms were getting a bit sore.

He had to move from this spot, it wasn't incredibly comfortable. So he moved gently and slowly, lying down on the couch, arms still wrapped around her tight. Her entire body laid on top of him only reached to the top of his thighs. He looked down at her, getting an eyeful of her peaceful, beautiful face and watching her breathe against his chest. 

He felt himself burn from the inside out, closing his eyes and willing himself to stop freaking out. He hoped she wouldn't regret drinking with him and wake up creeped out by him. He had no need for a blanket, her body was like a tiny generator, radiating heat into his bones. He didn't know how or why he got so lucky but he decided now wasn't the time to question it. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to a lot of 80's love songs while writing this one, so sorrrryyy if it's cheese I'm still trying to slow-burn this panini

Persephone woke in layers. First all she could feel around her was a slow and steady heartbeat. Next she began noticing herself slowly moving up and down in a rhythmic way. Finally, as reality set in around her she peeked an eye open cautiously, looking up and seeing nothing but blue.

Deep, dark blue. As she woke slowly her brain began to piece together where she was, memories from the night before flooding back. She opened both her eyes fully now, looking up at his pointed chin and nose facing the ceiling, the rest of his face calm and content in rest. She blushed as she realized their positioning. She was lying on top of him, pressed against him with his arms holding her in place in a surprisingly strong grip. She couldn’t budge. She tried to wiggle her hips to loosen his hold but it only made his arms tighten. She felt the tips of his fingers digging into her flesh, one hand gripping her thigh and the other clutching her exposed middle. She tried to move once more but found herself caught in the King of the Underworld’s vice grip. She huffed out a little frustrated sigh.

His eyebrows came together on his forehead, eyes fluttering open softly. She tried to hold still, hoping he might just go back to sleep, but as he blinked he gradually became more coherent. “Kore?” he murmured in a sleep-heavy voice, still holding her to himself tight.

“Good morning.” she chuckled, “Heh, well actually I’m not sure what time it is.. I can never tell down here.” as he shrugged off sleep he realized he was holding her and blushed a bright, almost electric blue and released his hold, clearing his throat and lifting her off him, placing her on the cushions and scooting backward, sitting upright on the couch. 

“I-I…” he pulled his phone out of his pocket, powering it on and squinting at the light, “Oh, it’s only 9pm.” 

“How is that possible?” the pink goddess looked perplexed, looking around herself.

He chuckled, running a hand through his sleep-stiff hair, “We did get here just after one o’clock.” 

“Oh, yeah that’s right.” she laughed at herself a little then puffed at a stray hair lying over her eyes, “S-so I should probably get out of your hair..” she smiled a self conscious little grin up at him.

“You’re no trouble.” he didn’t try to hold the words back, just letting them tumble out of himself. The thought of spending the rest of the night alone felt crushing. 

“Are you sure?” she yawned, then ran a hand through her long, tangled locks.

He nodded softly, gazing at her, “I’m sure. I… I r-rather enjoy having you around, sweetness..” he blushed furiously, looking anywhere but at her all of a sudden. She bit her lip, reading the look on his face, his body language… she remembered what Eros had told her about how people act when they’re attracted to each other:

_ Oh, they twitch, look away, stutter, mumble… A whole number of things. They’ll tease each other, make jokes, poke, touch, giggle, whisper…  _

She stood from the couch, still yanking at her tangled locks, “Ugh, would you help me with this mess?” He smiled and stood from the couch,

“Of course.” The two then walked into the kitchen, where he grabbed a pair of scissors then walked around to stand behind where she sat perched on a barstool, waiting. He reached down to gather her long tangled hair, trying to pull it all into one pile before bringing the scissors to it. His fingers brushed past the smooth skin of her neck and ears, having to stop himself from leaning forward into her and taking a deep inhale. He gathered her hair, brushing all the loose ends in, “Okay, ready?”

“Yep!” 

He squoze hard on the scissors, bringing the blades together over her thick hair, slicing through and turning it all to petals on the floor beneath them. It was a pretty clean cut, for a home job. He admired his handy work, letting his hand rest on her neck for a moment longer than he should. She didn’t seem to notice and shook her head around, sighing gratefully as the weight was removed, “Thank you.”

He recoiled, moving his hand back quickly, “Y-you’re welcome.”

“I’ll be right back!” She announced and walked off toward his bathroom. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. 

Persephone closed the door behind herself and pulled her phone out of her bra, flipping it open to find 20 unread text messages, half of them from Eros and half from an unknown number. She raised her eyebrows, opening Eros’ first one by one, it started with him saying:

“PERSE! I’m so sorry I don’t know how it happened but my mom got your number off my phone so you’re probably going to get a crazy shit storm of texts because yesterday when we were on a coffee date I slipped something about Hades having broken up with Minthe because I heard from a friend of a friend of Thanatos (BTW how have we not talked about this?!) and she freaked out and said she was going to intervene! I’m SO sorry!! I don’t know what she’s trying but it’s definitely going to be a mess! Love you! Call me!”

She closed his messages and looked nervously at the litany of messages from the unknown number… Aphrodite… She opened them, reading:

“Well, well, it seems the stars have aligned in your favor, haven’t they? You little minx! Ok, next thing you need to do is kiss him, really lock it down. And not just any old kiss, you need to really lay one on him. Do it when you’re alone together, just flutter those big doe eyes and lean into him, he won’t refuse, I know that for a fact. Just walk toward him, grab his tie and pull him down for a kiss. Do  **not** disappoint me!” 

_ Oh gods, this can’t actually be happening. Having Aphrodite involved is only going to make everything worse!  _ She was hoping this would all just go away in a matter of time, that’s what she had been betting on. She closed her phone and ran a hand through her short hair, huffing out a nervous sigh and tucking it away. She tried to compose herself before walking out of the bathroom and back out to face him. 

She walked out into the living room. It was empty. She turned and began walking toward the kitchen, finding him standing there sipping a drink. She cocked her head a little, looking up at him, “So, what do you wanna do the rest of the night?” 

Images flooded through his mind. Powerful, thought-derailing images. He huffed out a weak breath.  _ Quit it you dirty old man!  _ “U-uhh, I’m up for anything…” 

"Oh-oh, I know what we can do!" The little goddess bounced excitedly, "We can walk your dogs!" 

_ Gods, why is she so damn cute?  _ "If th-that's really what you want to do.." he stuffed his hands in his pockets, having to remind himself not to stare. 

"Yes!" She invaded his space, grabbing his forearm and wriggling with excitement, gazing up at him with large, sparkling eyes. He felt his blood begin to heat up under her touch. 

"Alright then, let's go let the dogs in." He took her small hand, removing it from his arm and walking toward the back door. She followed close behind and cheered when he let the dogs in and they all came running and barking excitedly. 

"Oh hello!" She practically sang, giggling as she was attacked by dog kisses. Hades offered her a hand to help pull her out of the dog swarm, chuckling. He then reached out to pet Cerberus, scolding the entire pack as he said, “Why aren’t you guys ever this excited to see me? Huh?” He scratched at Cerberus’ short black coat. The large doofy dog just licked him in response, then attacked Persephone with more licks and nudges. 

She put her tiny hands on either side of Cerberus’ long face, standing on her tiptoes pressing her soft little pink forehead to his, cooing, “That’s my good boy.” Hades watched this with a lump in his throat, wishing she would hold him like that.  _ Stop being jealous of a dog.  _ He nearly died when he watched her press a kiss right above his nose, giggling as he licked her happily in response. 

“Let me grab their leashes..” He excused himself, clearing his throat and trying to get ahold of his derailed thoughts. He walked away toward a closet down the hall. In all his hundreds of years of life he had never been so jealous of a damn dog. He scowled, imagining shape-shifting into Cerberus just to make an excuse to be kissed by her.  _ Oh fates, that’s healthy. That’s something Zeus would do. Gross.  _ This situation with Persephone just keeps spiraling out of his control. 

He returned with handfuls of leashes, setting them down and beginning to connect each one to a dog. It was quite the task but with her sitting there petting and loving on the dogs it was much easier than it had ever been. He let himself imagine what it would be like if she were here all the time, doing his daily routines and chores with him… How simple and beautiful life could be with her at his side... 

_ I’d pay you a salary to barge in on every single aspect of my life…  _

“Hades?” her soft voice broke him out of his daydream. 

He blinked rapidly, “Yes, sweetness?”

“They’re all ready to go, are you ready?” a simple gorgeous little smile painted her lips. It was infectious and he didn’t realize he was staring at her smiling like an idiot as she awaited his response patiently, biting her lip and smiling around it.  _ What would it be like to kiss those ever-plump, inviting dark pink lips… _

“Y-yes, let’s go.” He took four leashes in one hand, offering the smallest three dog’s leashes to her. “If they’re too much let me know.” She made a face at him, giving him one of the sassiest looks he’d ever seen color her face. It made his heart stutter.

“You underestimate me, oh mighty King.” He raised his thick eyebrows, grinning down at her.

“These are not normal dogs, Kore.” they began making their way to the front door as Hades reached into his pocket to make sure he had his keys. “Those small ones, like you, happen to be the feistiest.” 

She shot him a glare, which made him burst into a full-bodied laughing fit. 

“You better watch what you say, Hades…” she gave him a side-smirk that was absolutely sinfully gorgeous. He opened the door and held it for her to walk through. She did so and cast a glance back at him, short pink curls framing her face, “So what’s your usual route?”

He smiled because she asked as if she knew the Underworld and could somehow navigate. “I usually just walk to the dog park a couple blocks away.” 

“Alright, lead the way.” She stood beside him, half his size, smiling up at him just like he was anybody. She had no fear of him, no intimidation. She seemed completely content and comfortable, as if she was totally unaware of his role in their world.. The darkness he represents. If he didn’t know better he’d think nobody had told her, but he knew she was well-educated. 

It was refreshing to him to not be treated like a king for once. He felt like everyone else around him in his life, besides Hecate, has an agenda to please him or gain something. He’s so sick of the ass-kissing, the mandatory greetings at work, the overall tediousness of having a social life, being a well-known fixture in the world. With her he could forget all that. 

They were walking side by side in silence, he watched her struggle a little with the three leashes until she triple wrapped them around her tiny wrist, throwing a confident smile up at him as she led the dogs into a manageable pace. He smiled down his nose at her. On night walks like these he usually stares up at the dark, murky sky above but tonight all he can look at is her, glowing brighter than all the gemstones in his lair. Her magenta skin stood out in stark contrast to their dark surroundings. Her eyes shifted and she looked up, catching him looking. He looked away fast but it was too late. When he turned his head to look back at her with a guilty, defeated expression on his face he saw blue flowers sprouting around her head and it made his stomach turn to stone.

He cleared his throat and looked away, masking a secret smile, liking her lack of self-control. It made him feel a little better about pining for her so hard.  _ Maybe she feels the same way… Maybe she just doesn’t know what to say…  _ He stole a quick glance at her, trying to read her expression. Her eyebrows were pulled up over her eyes, cheeks bright and blushing.. She looked embarrassed. He decided to look away and let the moment pass, not wanting to embarrass her further. He suddenly felt immense guilt.

_ This young, sweet girl comes here, all by herself, and is kind enough to grace you with her presence and you go and embarrass her?! What is wrong with you? No wonder you’re alone. _

He frowned, staring down at the ground and focusing on the dogs, clenching the leashes as he felt a surge of excitement move through them as the dog park came into view. Persephone let out a little noise of surprise as the three dogs she was walking did the same. Hades reached over instinctively, grabbing the leashes for her, his large hand clamping down over hers. 

The world seemed to stop for a moment as their eyes caught. Hers were filled with a nervous excitement, shimmering, absorbed in him, unable to look anywhere but up into his equally intense red irises. His eyes glowed, throwing off lines of red like the glow left behind from embers of a fire. She watched the muscles in his jaw tighten as his eyebrows lowered simultaneously, the air surrounding them intensifying, crackling with energy. Both were afraid to move, scared that one wrong movement could spark some sort of explosion between their mingling, glowing energies. 

She was the first to break the gaze, looking down at his hand on top of hers, he watched her glow even brighter, her skin nearly fluorescent at this point. He expected her to pull away but instead she transferred the leashes into one of his hands then softly took his free hand, looking up at him, biting her lip, lids hanging heavy over her eyes with a clear as day look of arousal on her face.

He reminded himself to breathe, overwhelmed at the combination of her expression and her soft little hand resting in his. He felt the dogs tug excitedly, so he began walking again with her attached. He kept his eyes on the road ahead of them, focusing on getting to the dog park without having a heart attack. 

He didn’t see her ecstatic expression, the way she was beaming like the luckiest person in the entire world. He did however feel her tiny fingers find the spaces between his. His heart thumped unevenly as she worked her little fingers into a knot with his, properly lacing their hands together for the first time. 

His heart pounded hard and fast as they approached the park. He still refused to look at her, afraid the urge to kiss her would become too powerful. She released his hand as they approached the fenced-in dog area. He opened it and led all the dogs in, she followed behind and shut the fence, crouching down to help him remove all the leashes. 

She cleared her throat softly, “I can’t imagine doing this all by myself.” She hoped that didn’t sound rude. She looked up to meet his eyes. He only gave her quick, darting glances, huffing out a little laugh,

“I usually take them in groups, not all at once, it’s more manageable.” 

“Oh, duh,” she suddenly felt silly, blushing and looking away from him. 

He read her expression, offering, “You know, Kore, there’s no way you could have known that..” 

He got the last couple of leashes off then let them go, watching as the pack ran, all at different paces all the way to the other side of the enclosure. He picked up all the leashes, gently taking the ones Kore gave him, holding the gate open for her to walk out. She did and he followed, shutting it behind him. “I paid to have this enclosure built, I got so tired of chasing them.” He looked down at her with a handsome smile.   
“Makes sense..” her face was a million miles away. He worried he’d done something wrong.

“Kore, is something wrong?” He took a step toward her but still gave her a large personal space bubble. She looked up at him, eyes teary all of a sudden. Small droplets of moisture pooled at the corners of her eyes, her chin trembled as she wiped the back of her hand across her eye.

“S-sometimes I just… I feel so out of my depth here…” She wilted softly, like a flower, he stepped out to offer his arms to her as she looked so fragile he thought she might just break. She took the offer, collapsing into his arms and letting her tears out onto his shoulder. Her voice trembled as she spoke into his neck, “I-I don’t feel I belong here… or anyw-where… my role was fulfilled by my mother before me, s-so what’s the use of me? What purpose do I serve?” she cried harder, wrapping her arms tight around his neck.

“No, Kore, no that’s not true… none of that is true, don’t say that. You just haven’t found your place quite yet… I-It takes time, sweetness…” 

“What role do I have? I might as well be some flower nymph.” she sniffled, pulling back to wipe tears from her cheeks. Her heart jumped a little in surprise as his cool hands came to rest on her burning cheeks, cupping her face and commanding her with a hard, deep gaze as he said, 

“Kore if anyone else said the words you are saying right now I would cut their tongue out.” She met his intense eyes, seeing that he was in no way kidding. Their eyes locked as he continued, “Sweetness, just because you haven’t found your place yet doesn’t mean you don’t have one.”

“How do you know?” she sniffled, lips still pointing down in a frown.

He sighed and stroked her cheek with his thumb gently, looking down into her sad eyes once more, radiating a vulnerability as he said, “Because… when I was your age, I thought the same thing. I thought my life had no meaning and I was going nowhere.” He remembered turning nineteen in his father’s stomach, nothing to do but count down the days, “You’re doing much better than I was. You’ll get through whatever you’re going through right now and you’ll be much stronger for it.. I promise.”

She found immense comfort in his words, looking up at him and reading nothing but pure honesty coming from him. He spoke to her like an adult, he respected her as her own person. He saw her the way she wanted to see herself… the way she wanted everyone to see her. She placed her hands over his as they held her face.

“Kore, you’re much too hard on yourself. You’re a bit of an overachiever, aren’t you?” he studied her expression, which was transparent that he’d hit the nail on the head, “It doesn’t surprise me, having Demeter raise you and all… She may as well be the goddess of overachievement and unrealistic expectations..” He softly pulled his hands from her face, satisfied that her tears had subsided. She still clutched his hands, looking up at him. He allowed it, blushing and looking deep into her eyes.

“How do you know mama so well?” 

“I think you forget that I’ve known her since the beginning, sweetness. I know her nature very well.” He cocked his head at her, “Remember, we talked about this on the phone?”

“Yeah, I do, it’s still just a little strange to digest, I guess..” she feigned a little laugh. 

“It makes sense..” he released her hands gently. She blushed furiously and looked away,

“I-If you don’t want me to to-ouch you, you can just say so…” she looked like she might die of shame. She wore the same look on her face the time she told him she didn’t need his ‘emotional whiplash’ times about a hundred. He hated himself for making her look like that, so full of doubt when really the issue is that he’s in love with her and is too much of a coward to do anything about it. 

“O-Oh, no i-it’s not that… it’s…”  _ Fates, what IS it?! What is wrong with me!? Why is it so fucking hard just to look at her and tell her how I feel??  _ “I… I’m afraid I…”  _ Get it TOGETHER!  _

She stepped toward him, eyes locked on his lips, “You’re afraid of what, Hades?” In the darkness it felt like they were the only two people in the world. With no one around it felt easier to invade his space and reach up at his tie like Aphrodite had suggested. She felt her heart race, trying to fight the thoughts away that were telling her this was a terrible idea. Instead of leaning down toward her like she’d expected he just stood at his full height, looking down at her with a bewildered expression, “What are you doing, sweetness?” 

“I..” she lost her confidence, releasing his tie and stepping backward, looking away with red cheeks. 

To her surprise he took a step toward her, reaching down and taking her little hands in his. He saw a shiver pass through her. His eyebrows raised in concern, “Are you cold?” before she could respond he was already removing his black suit jacket and placing it around her tiny frame. She took it gratefully, clutching it to herself and looking up at him. He ran a hand through his hair, looking down at his watch then over at the dogs playing, “We should probably head out..” 

“Why, do you have a curfew?” she quipped, smiling mischievously up at him. He narrowed his eyes at her, grinning in return, 

“That was very good. Bravo.” he slow-clapped for her, flashing her a toothy, wicked grin. 

“I’ve learned a thing or two about sarcasm since hanging around you!” she attacked his torso, poking and tickling him. He squirmed and reached down to grab her hands and stop her, shooting her a fiery look. She giggled and fake-tripped, falling into his arms and looking up at him with her wide ‘doe eyes’, “Besides, you tend to overreact, I’m not that cold anyway..” She reached up to stroke his cheek, thrilled at the soft yet sand-paper-like quality of his skin against hers. Rough yet so inviting. 

He captured her hand, scooping her up off the ground, holding her body to his with his arms around her waist, “So you admit that you’re a little cold?” she narrowed her eyes at him, making him burst into a laughing fit under her concentrated glare.

“You are absolutely, one hundred percent a scoundrel.” She pushed against his chest, which only made him tighten his grip on her, which made her secretly burn with excitement. Not only to be the center of his attention, but to actually be held in his arms was a feeling so intoxicating she almost succumbed right then and there, leaning toward his lips with her eyes half open, only an inch from kissing him. 

He surprised her by grabbing her chin in his hand and whispering, so close that she could feel the words against her lips, “Kore, I think I want to ask that personal question now…” 

“Oh?” she responded, their lips brushing feather-light against each other. With her eyes half-open and all her senses on fire it was hard to tell what was real because everything around her in this moment felt too surreal. The overwhelming scent of him… like a fire in winter… his strong hands holding her body to his effortlessly, holding her suspended in the air like a planet caught in his orbit. The magnetism of his presence had long pulled her toward the edge of pushing her own limits and boundaries but with him so close, flooding all her senses… “Are you sure you want to use it now?” she teased, pulling backward and smiling as his lips chased hers.

“I’m pretty sure… but could it wait until we get back indoors? I’ve really got to get these mutts home.” he smiled radiantly, knocking the air out of her lungs. 

“S-sure.” 

Kore’s heart raced as she sat on his couch, waiting for him to return from putting the dogs to bed for the night. She pulled her phone out to check it but it had died. She huffed in frustration and wandered into the guest room next to the kitchen. She flipped the light switch, searching for a clock. She spotted one sitting atop the nightstand and walked toward it, seeing it read 11:49.  _ Almost midnight… I’ve been with him for a whole day… I hope he’s not sick of me…  _

She returned to the living room, perching herself on the cushions, trying to look casual and comfortable as she waited, anxiety pumping through her veins, wondering what his question would be. She worried herself into a panic, staring at the floorboards in front of herself. 

“Kore.” He scared her as he sat beside her on the couch, making the cushion dip beside her. She shot up in the air, letting out a little yelp. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you..” 

She shook her head, “You’re fine, I’m just… jumpy.” 

“You know.. If this isn’t a good time I don’t have to ask my question..” 

“No, no, I’m fine.” she tucked a stray curl behind her ear, “It’s not a bad time, I promise.”

He watched her for a moment, “Alright…” he dropped his eyes to his hands as he started, cautiously, “Well… I.. I wanted to know.. If that night you spent here wh-when I brought you from the party… was that the first time you met me?”

She considered for a moment, then answered, “Yes.” She was confused as to why he looked sad all of a sudden. “What?” Hades looked away.  _ You can’t mention the letter, you can’t mention the letter… if she knows you read a letter that was addressed to someone else she’ll be repulsed by you, you big creep.  _ “Hades, what is it?”

He bit his lip and met her eyes, trying to come up with something to say. “I… I just feel like we’ve met before… I… I don’t know, I must be crazy..” He wanted her to admit the truth and tell him she’d seen him lounging drunkenly in the mortal realm. He wanted to hear her say that she peeped on him while he was sleeping and this whole thing between them was her fault. He felt the urge to pin it on anyone but him, not wanting to believe that his infatuation with this young goddess could have derailed his life so much. He wanted to believe he had more control over himself than this. He wanted something to have this all make sense. 

Her voice was incredibly small as she began to say, “W-well, there was one time I saw you in the mortal realm… you came to visit Hecate and mama didn’t want me to see you, but… I… I was so curious, b-because I’d never seen a God before, besides Hermes and he’s like a brother to me… and mama didn’t allow me to be near mortal men, s-so I…” Her cheeks were a bright, flushing pink as she stammered nervously. His heart was racing from her admission, giving him some validation that he wasn’t the only one interested. “I… I did see you sleep… that’s all…” she looked away bashfully, hiding behind her growing hair, blue petals falling from around her head. “I h-hope you’re not upset with me..”

He shook his head furiously and took her hand, nudging her chin up with his thumb, “Sweetness, I could never be upset with you.” she blushed and looked up at him shyly, blinking behind heavy lashes, a small pink butterfly latching onto Hades’ shoulder as they gazed at each other.

“Is that so?” he nodded and stroked her cheek softly with the pad of his thumb. Intoxicated by her presence and drunk on the way that her words made him feel, he leaned toward her, lips aimed to make contact with hers at long last. She stiffened, but didn’t pull away as he brushed his nose with hers and very slowly and gently pressed a kiss to her velvet, petal-like pink lips. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of a chapter 5 part 2, it's really short and sweet because I have no discipline but also I wanted to thank those of you following this story and give you something to come back for  
> Love love you all

“I promised myself I wasn’t going to do that..” His voice came out strangled and nervous sounding as he pulled away, ending the soft, sweet kiss. To his surprise Persephone wore the same look of intoxication on her face that he guessed was on his, lids resting heavy over her eyes, cheeks flushed, lips plump and open, as if waiting for more. 

Her voice was low and sultry, “Well thank goodness you broke that promise.”  _ Is she leaning closer? I have to be imagining this.  _

“Oh, y-yeah?” He lifted an eyebrow, trying to mask his shock that she not only accepted his kiss but seemed to like it. She scooted closer to him on the couch, biting her lip and gazing up at him. The question was in her eyes, on her face ‘will you kiss me again?’ and Hades would have been a fool to let that question go unanswered. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, “Are you sure, sweetness?”

She nodded enthusiastically and climbed into his lap, pressing herself against his chest, nose in his neck inhaling that deep, musky scent that she found so appealing. He stiffened and she pulled up to look at him, wondering if she’d done something wrong. His face said otherwise. She chuckled, pulling her hands back, “Is this too much?”

He made a very small, strangled sound in the back of his throat. His hands found her hips and gripped them through the black fabric of her skirt, shaking his head slowly, muttering, “I have to be dreaming..” 

“Do I need to pinch you?” she giggled, teasing as always, splaying her hands out on his broad chest, amazed at their size difference yet again. She let her small hands travel freely from his chest to the expanse of his wide shoulders, tracing the shape of him, making him burn under his clothes. He took her little hands in one of his, too distracted from her touch to focus on only kissing her, his mind came up with too many other activities. 

She looked up at him with those large, innocent eyes as he stared back with burning, intense crimson irises. “Kore…” he sounded pained. Her eyebrows rose on her forehead. With his free hand he stroked her plump bottom lip with his thumb, gazing at her. “If we… do this, become… this… I… I have to know that this is what you want.” 

“What do you mean?” she cocked her head at him curiously.

“Nobody… put you up to this?” 

“Hades!” she scoffed, “No! No one put me up to this, what do you even mean by that?”

“I apologize… I just… find it hard to believe that a goddess like you… of your own free will would choose me..” she wondered how his self image could be so distorted. Did he not realize all that he has to offer? Not just his possessions or his riches, but the depth of his sweet and generous heart. She couldn’t fathom why he can’t see any of that. 

“Hades, I want you for you… since the moment I saw you I knew..” He snapped his eyes to hers, remembering seeing her at the party and falling in love almost instantly. Well, maybe not love, but infatuation for sure. To hear that she feels the same is an immeasurable joy that he can’t put into words. “I don’t care that you’re a king, or that you’re rich… I just like your smile.. And the way you look when you’re with your dogs… or, how you took my shoes off before tucking me in..” 

He felt his throat close up, not thinking she was even coherent enough in that moment to have remembered that, but clearly she did. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to him and he could tell she meant it. He felt a flurry of emotion rise in his chest and all he could do was lean in and kiss her again. She returned the kiss enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around his neck and sinking into it. He let his arms wrap around her little waist, holding her close and never wanting to let go. When she pulled back softly from the kiss her cheeks were wet. 

He looked at her with confusion then realized, with horror, that she was damp from his tears. He quickly wiped at his eyes, trying to hide any evidence, but she already knew. “Hades..” she cooed and cuddled up into him, wrapping her arms around his neck again and kissing one of his high cheekbones. “Happy or sad tears?” 

“Happy, sweetness.” he wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. 

"Good." She nuzzled into him, shifting her arms down to hug tight around his lean torso, amazed at the ratio of his shoulder width to waist. She pressed her face into his white dress shirt, smelling him. "I like how you smell." She confessed, while small pink butterflies fluttered around them then came to rest on Hades' shoulders and hands, one landing in his hair. 

It reminded him of the many times Minthe insulted his 'smell of death'. He was amazed at the stark contrast between how he felt around Minthe and how he felt around Persephone. Persephone was nothing but sweetness and kindness, he almost wasn't sure how to react to her compliments. "You do?"

"Yes, it's one of the many things I like about you." 

"You flatter me, sweetness." He froze as he felt tiny warm kisses move up the side of his throat, venturing to behind his ear, nibbling on his earlobe. He blushed, moving his hands up to hold her body close to his as she explored him. 

He started to feel drugged, or drunk, he couldn't pinpoint the sensation but everything around him became hot and blurry as she continued kissing his flushed skin. He felt like a virgin again suddenly, excited by her every touch and movement, learning her slow, teasing intimacy. 

He set his hands over her round bum as she continued kissing him, moving to the other side of his neck, small fingers pulling his tie open and unbuttoning his shirt. He tested the waters by squeezing that supple, round behind like he'd dreamt about doing, gauging her reaction. 

"That feels nice.." she cooed into his collarbone, nibbling it as she pulled the fabric away. He tightened his grip, then released to squeeze again, biting his lip from the feeling, imagining what her heart shaped ass looked like without clothes hiding it. She pulled back from kissing his chest to look up at him. He grinned at her and leaned in for a kiss. She met his lips enthusiastically, digging her fingers into his hair, gripping and holding him close to her tight. 

She latched onto his bottom lip and sucked it into her mouth, then resumed kissing him, dipping her little tongue out curiously to meet his. It felt strange at first but as soon as their tongues met the kiss deepened, making both of them groan and cling to each other tighter. 

He pulled away as things became hot and heavy, huffing breathlessly, "Kore.." 

"Aidoneus.." she smiled up at him. He stroked her cheek, licking his lips and tasting her sweet saliva on his tongue.

"So, how was that?" He was again reminded she is a teenager from the hopeful, expectant way she gazed up at him. His stomach flipped then fell, he remembered what Hecate had said. 

_ Do  _ **_not_ ** _ kiss her, I'm serious, Hades, she's nineteen.  _

He realized he hadn't answered her and reached out to stroke her cheek, amazed at her silky, petal-like skin. "It was perfect, Kore. You are perfect." 

She blushed then began gathering her outgrown, wavy locks that brushed just past her ribs. 

"Would you like some assistance?" He grinned, almost drunkenly.

She nodded, smiling up at him, "I would." 

He then shot up from the couch and off to find scissors. She stood, patting her skirt down at her sides, eyes widening as she felt a dampness in her underwear. She swiftly walked toward the bathroom, guessing she'd started her period unexpectedly, it had happened before. When she investigated she found no blood, only a clear stain that made her curious. She'd felt some sort of rumble inside her while they'd kissed that she'd never felt before, she wondered if that had been connected to this. 

Her mother usually avoided subjects like these. Her way of approaching explaining sex and bodily functions was handing her a book casually and walking away. Persephone learned everything from reading and often felt uncomfortable asking her mother questions. She couldn't go to Artemis either.. she didn't feel close enough to Aphrodite and she intimidated her.. maybe she could talk to Hera… she wouldn't make her feel weird. She hated how embarrassed she felt when it came to things like this. She washed her hands, catching a glimpse of her flushed face in the mirror. Her freckles stood out starkly against her glowing magenta skin. She dried her hands on a dark little hand towel then walked out into the living room to find him on the couch waiting with a pair of scissors. His expression brightened as his eyes fell on her. 

She joined him on the couch and turned her back to him. He reached up, gently combing his fingers through her locks, trying to untangle them as gently as possible. She smiled, "You don't have to worry, I'm not tender-headed, mama cured me of that years ago.." 

He frowned ever so slightly at her statement, imagining Demeter yanking a brush through her darling sweet daughter's full, unruly head of hair impatiently. The thought made him fill with anger, made him want to wrap his arms around her and steal her away from Olympus and the mortal realm. He wanted to keep her in his sight to make sure she was being looked after, admired and loved like she deserves. These selfish whims burned up inside him as he continued to gently pull his fingers through her hair, replying softly, "Unfortunately, I cannot stop myself from doting on and worrying about you, sweetness," he began gathering all her hair into one hand, leaning down and whispering against the shell of her little ear, "I simply care too much for you.." 

She shivered and felt the rumbling, burning feeling return to her lower torso. 

"Is that so?" She managed to ask, before he sunk his teeth into her warm neck and began suckling like a vampire. She squirmed under his touch, tugged back gently by his hand that still held her hair. She liked feeling restrained by him, caught in his arms. It was vastly different than how she'd felt pinned under Apollo's crushing frame. 

He kissed down her neck, groaning into her warm skin, "Here I am getting distracted again…" 

"A little distraction never hurt.." she teased, smiling, basking in the glowing feeling of being in his arms, under his lips. She hadn't thought it could ever be this easy. 

He chuckled and pulled back softly, picking the scissors back up and readying them, "Alright, ready?" 

"Ready." He chopped down on the thick gathering of hair quickly, slicing through it, watching petals spurt from his hands. He set the scissors aside. "You know, if you ever need help learning to control your powers, I could offer what I know.." 

She shook her short hair around, sighing and liking the lighter feeling. "I don't really have trouble unless I'm with you." She shot him a smirk, he mirrored her expression and laughed softly. 

"Ah, well, seems I'm the problem, not the solution like I'd hoped." He looked so handsome with a smug grin on his face, dimples making an appearance, causing her heart to stutter. 

She placed a gentle little hand on his chest, gazing up at him, "Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" 

He blinked, "Won't Artemis wonder where you are?" 

"It's pretty late anyway, and if she asks I can tell her I'm staying with a friend." 

"Oh, alright." He smiled, "I would love to have you stay, sweetness.." she returned the smile, biting her lip with a look of excitement in her eyes. "I can make up the guest bed and--"

"I don't want to sleep in the guest bed." She pawed at his chest, cuddling closer, "I want to sleep with you." 

His cheeks burned. He wondered if she knew the connotations that phrase had. She read his expression and rushed to clarify, "I-I didn't mean  _ that.. _ I.." she laughed in a self-deprecating way. "Just sl-sleep.. I.. have a hard time sleeping alone.." 

He nodded, "I r-remember you mentioning that." He stood from the couch and offered her his hand, "do you want to go to sleep now?" 

She took it and let him pull her up from the couch, she imagined she wouldn't be able to sleep from the excitement of being so close to him, but she lied, nodding and faking a yawn, "Yes." 

"Alright. I need to take some melatonin in that case." 

"Melatonin?" She cocked her head to the side like a bird, vaguely remembering studying that. "A sleep aid?" 

"Yes, I have trouble falling asleep." 

"Oh." She said softly, knotting her fingers together and peering up at him. 

"Follow me sweetness.." she'd never been to his bedroom before. She'd seen his guest room, his pool, pretty much everywhere else except his bedroom. A nervous excitement filled her as they made their way up the stairs. They made it to a large double door that he reached down to open. 

He walked in and she followed behind into a large, dark master bedroom. All the furniture was dark wood, all coordinated together to match. His bed was a large sea of dark satin waves. She remembered how soft his guest bed sheets were. The room was impeccably clean, almost too clean, lacking any signs of life besides a book and a pair of glasses resting atop it on the side table. She walked toward it, moving his glasses to read the book title. It read: "Modern Workplace Etiquette".  _ Barf, boring.  _

"Is this what you read for fun?" She raised an eyebrow at him. 

He shook his head, "Fates, no. Hecate is making me read that." He took a step toward her.

"Oh, thank gods I was going to have to rethink all of this." She giggled. He took another step, closing the space between them, grinning down at her. 

"I assure you, just because I wear a suit doesn't mean I'm some frumpy bureaucrat, darling." He placed his hands on her hips, marveling at her small curvy body, thinking he preferred it to the sleek, skinny frame he was used to. She melted under his touch, stepping closer and pressing herself against him. He felt blood rush south and swiftly lifted her to hide his arousal, setting her down on the bed softly. 

She giggled, "Hadees!" He smiled at his successful diversion, climbing up on the bed beside her. "What'd you do that for?" 

He shrugged, playing it off, "You're small and very easy to lift, why not?" She laughed and swatted at him, he caught her little hand and placed his fingers through hers, smiling deliriously. 

"Hades," she felt her chest swell with emotion, wanting to tell him everything she felt while simultaneously wanting to hide it, battling with herself. "Today has been.." 

"A dream." He answered, leaning down to steal a kiss. 


End file.
